The Alchemist and the Altamere
by T. R. Myers
Summary: Based on the comic book. Posting here as there is no readership there. Partial rewrite. Will disappears for two months that she can't remember, an enemy reveals her secret to her mother, and to top it all off, the new villian in her life...is her. Can Will come to terms with the idea that her secret is revealed and she may not even be the real Will? The universe depends on it.
1. Escape

(Full overhaul, here. I realized I just couldn't make this story work until I decided which version of the series I was writing about. It was really Orube that made the decision for me. It was just too easy to put her in Luba's place. So now, this is based on the comic book. That also means the removal of numerous characters, which I will be grateful for. It was too hard to keep track of all of them, and I had a bunch of people who just weren't moving the story.)

Falling…

Falling for an instant…

Falling for an eternity…

Falling through the Infinite Void…

All of his plans had come to ruin, yet while he fell, his strength grew. In the Infinite Void was infinite energy. For a time, he forgot his name, but he never forgot them…five girls…Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin. It was his hatred of them that gave him the strength to remember himself. He was Phobos, and he wanted eternity! His spells that had been so carefully designed to rescue him from the Infinite Void should he ever enter had all failed him. His hatred for the Guardians gave him the strength he needed, and through sheer force of will, he moved through the void. It could not be infinite in all directions.

He felt a kindred spirit, a soul like his that desired order. There she was before him, and he was finally free of the void. She was barely alive, her dress so soaked with blood that its true color could scarcely be seen as blue. It was easy to see that the blood was hers as large chunks of flesh had been torn by her, seemingly from some wild animal. As Phobos turned the strange woman over, he noted a pendant of magnificent power hanging around her neck. Phobos knew not what world it was from, but he knew it was a Cosmic Heart. Every world had a Heart, and some spirits were Hearts of incredible power.

Phobos turned the woman over, carefully moving the pendant so that she did not lie upon it. She lived still, but there was little life left in her. A spike was rammed into her chest, blood oozing around it, and one of her eye sockets was empty, except for blood. The Heart vanished as Phobos reached for it. "Heal me," she said, her voice quavering, though it was still strong, "and you may have it. Otherwise, when I die, none will find it again."

Phobos said, "You would give it to me?"

"Look at me. It's brought me naught but misery."

"As you wish." Phobos was not the charitable type. One may think that he relished doing evil but was repulsed by acts of good, but that was not the case. His evil was the sort by which he had no feeling for the consequences of any of his actions. So long as they brought him power, so be it, and why keep a deal when it requires less energy to just lie and cheat? Still, this woman meant what she said. Phobos would not have that jewel unless she was certain of her survival.

He started with the bleeding, sealing all of the wounds so she would stop loosing blood. He also worked to replenish the blood she had lost. This was harder as she had clearly lost more than she could survive without and this required Phobos to make it from nothing, an act that required a tremendous amount of magical energy. The spike worked its way from her chest, exiting with a sickening squelch, but the wound closed itself. Phobos was too weak from replenishing her blood to reconstruct the eye. When he finished, only scars remained where the large chunks of flesh had been torn, and the lacerations were gone without a trace. One eye and one empty socket looked into Phobos' face.

"Thank you," she said. "You did more than I hoped." She stood uneasily. "You could have restored my eye." She took in her surroundings. She poured strength from the Heart into Phobos. "Would you do so now? Please?"

Newly revitalized, Phobos did as he was asked, and soon, the mysterious woman had both eyes intact.

"As promised." The Heart dangled on a chain before Phobos. He took it without hesitation and regarded the gifter with interest.

"You give up this treasure so easily."

"It was passed down in my family for generations. We are the rulers of Ulnra. Our people became disillusioned with my mother's rule. She used that Heart to squeeze the people for everything they were worth. They rebelled and killed her. I took the Heart and tried to restore order, and make my mother's killers pay. They would not have it. They were not interested in an inherited throne. They killed my family, and as you saw, they nearly killed me."

Phobos looked at the Heart of Ulnra. "Then you cannot remain here."

"No," the mysterious woman finally said, "Whoever you are, you saved my life, even if you didn't want to. I'll do whatever you ask until the end of my days."

Phobos smiled. Already, he had a new servant. "What is your name, then?"

"I am Davira."

"Then know, Davira, you have sworn yourself to Prince Phobos, rightful ruler of all of Metamoor and his grand city of Meridian. My throne was usurped by my younger sister and her sympathetic cohorts, the Guardians of the Infinite Realms."

Davira's eyes widened. "My Lord, if it is within my power, I will help to restore your throne and put the brat and her co-conspirators in their places." A look of disgust crossed Davira's face. "I suppose they lulled the people with nonsensical promises of freedom and a new law. Only traitors dare to question their holy sovereign."

Phobos examined the Heart of Ulnra once more. The Heart of Metamoor, the Heart of Ulnra, and the Heart of Kandrakar; perhaps Nerissa's quest for multiple Hearts had certain merits. Drawing on the power of the Heart of Ulnra, pulling Davira along with her, he gated to the courtyard of Elyon's castle, Phobos' former home. Davira called out in surprise. "Phobos! You know more about the uses of the Heart than even I dreamed."

Phobos observed Davira skeptically. "You mean that you do not know how to gate between worlds?"

"You must understand, we were never really taught how to use it. It was simply given to us as our symbol of office when we assumed the throne."

"You poor, uneducated thing."

Finally, one bleary-eyed guard, clearly hung over from the previous night's revels, seemed to realize who had appeared in the castle's courtyard. "Lord Phobos! How dare you come here?" He lowered a pikestaff and advanced, but froze in place when Davira imperiously extended her hand.

She looked at her hand. "I could never do that before without the Heart."

Phobos smiled knowingly. "When you possess a Heart of the Cosmos, you receive some of its powers. They become a part of you, so that even if you should lose the Heart, you will always possess some power. It's the nature of the worlds we inhabit."

Davira smiled wickedly and stretched her hands out. Every guard in the courtyard met the same fate as the first. The two warlords marched through the corridors of the castle unconcerned with the advancing guards. They were all frozen in time. They found a locked throne room, which Phobos easily blasted open, throwing guards on the other side backwards. A young man brandishing a sword seemed to evade Davira's spell, and Phobos' energy bolts.

"Ah," said Phobos, "if it isn't the great General Caleb. I have a special fate planned for you." With a swift motion, Phobos came under the sword and struck Caleb at the base of the skull, knocking him unconscious. At that moment, a massive blast of raw energy struck Phobos squarely in the chest, knocking him backwards. "And my baby sister! This day just gets better and better."

Queen Elyon channeled her power into whatever vulnerable point on Phobos she could hit. She had had four years of practice and became a formidable sorceress, but Phobos was older and more powerful. Why his parents had this brat girl so late in life, Phobos could not understand. They had given her the throne instead of him, he who was first born and who was the rightful heir. The brat would have been dead at birth had his disloyal subjects not hidden her on Earth.

He did not dodge or deflect the power, but took it into himself, and soon the Light of Meridian yielded. With the last bit of magic available to her, Elyon called out for help across the realms. She was weakened though, and the call wouldn't go far. He drew the force of her power into the Crown of Light, and absorbed it into the Heart of Ulnra. Now, he had two Hearts with which to face the power of Kandrakar and the Guardians. Soon, he would possess the Heart of Kandrakar. Little did he know, the fortuitous circumstance that promised to bring him the Heart of Kandrakar, would happen in mere hours.

Sheffield Institute

Madam Kurtz stood at her whiteboard, writing out examples of French junctions and conjunctions. This was the only class in their junior year that Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin had together. In the past, it was generally Taranee that would be paying rapt attention in class, while Cornelia twirled her pencil, thoroughly bored, while the other three were either sleeping or wearing vacant expressions. French class was unique in this case. This was the third year Taranee struggled to get a good enough grade to make it to the next year. Cornelia absorbed every bit of the language, though it was no surprise that the fashionista fascista of Sheffield Academy would take an interest in the language spoken in the capital of fashion. Hay Lin, with her abstract way of viewing the world, always had a vacant expression no matter what she was doing. She could have been an A student, and there would be no way to tell, though her best grades were generally in art and music. Irma was hopelessly inept in the nuances of the French language. It was a mystery she had even gotten this far. Will was the real surprise. Will was, sadly, a terrible student in all areas. She struggled to achieve a passing grade in nearly every subject except science, at which she did rather well...and French, at which she was the head of the class.

In the third year of French all students were expected to communicate in French. Oh, excuse moi...en Francais. Madam Kurtz turned to the class and said, "Sil vous plait, J'ai une liste de fruits sur le bord. Comment pouvez-vous commander des fruits au magasin?"

Hay Lin whispered, "We should have taken Spanish."

Will whispered, "I have Spanish next block."

"You're learning French and Spanish?"

"And I'm learning Latin during my free period. The new biology teacher, Professor Phillips is teaching me."

Taranee couldn't quite understand that. The Will who couldn't answer 2 plus x equals 4 was taking three languages and excelling? "How could you possibly be learning three languages at once?"

Will seemed to actually think about that. "I don't know. It just comes easy to me."

Hay Lin said, "We should have taken Spanish."

Cornelia said, "Shush. We all agreed to take French together. You can't back out in our third year."

Taranee said, "Well, I've got a year longer than anyone else. Okay, I'm still trying to decipher what she said. 'Sil vous plait' is obviously 'please,' but all I heard of the next lines was, 'I have a list of really bored Fritos. How would you smell if you got Fritos at the store?'"

Cornelia went into hysterics and laughed uncontrollably.

Will, barely able to contain herself, said, "Fruits, Taranee. She has a list of fruit on the board. She's asking you how you'd order them at the store."

"Cornelia?" Madam Kurtz called.

Cornelia sat up straight, forced herself to stop laughing, and said, "Sil vous plait, ou pourrais-je trouver les pomme?"

"Très formelle, mais très, très, très excellente! Will?"

Will said, "Sil vous plait, Je voudrais acheter un melon ."

"Ah, informelle, bien, bien. Hay Lin?"

Hay Lin perked up and said, "Por favor, yo quiero una frase!"

The class roared with laughter while Madam Kurtz stood passively. She never, ever got angry. She never, ever punished anyone. She was the nicest teacher at the academy, and the strictest grader in the state. She was the type of teacher who understood that clowning in class only earned an F, and that was the only punishment she felt anyone needed. "Ah, très bien...en Espagne. C'est le Français! En Français, sil vous plait."

Hay Lin thought for a moment and said, "Umm...je-j'ai veux un...lemon?"

"Citron," Madam Kurtz corrected. "Bien," she said, but her disappointed tone of voice suggested that Hay Lin hadn't done so well. Kurtz passed over Irma. "Taranee?"

Taranee said, "Okay, I mean, bien. Umm...quand est-ce que les olives?"

"Tres bien. Tres bien. C'est moment, ordre." Madam Kurtz gave Taranee an encouraging look. She knew Taranee could do it.

Taranee looked helpless for a moment and said, "Je vuex acheter des olives."

"Magnifique!" Madam Kurtz, checked to see what Irma was reading, nodded approvingly when she saw it was the day's French lesson, then turned and went to another group of students.

Cornelia turned to Hay Lin and said, "You've earned a dope slap."

After school they went to a corner bistro and got some ice cream. They liked to sit at the back, where they were unlikely to be overheard. Their topics of conversation tended be unusual. Currently, they were talking about the ordinary things, but that would change. It always did.

Cornelia said, "I've been hoping to go to Paris and learn fashion designing from the best. I mean, now that I know French, that helps."

Taranee said, "Actually, I've been thinking about medical school, and then going into genetic research."

"That wasn't your mom's idea, right?"

"Oh, mom totally wants me to go to law school. She's got this whole idea of me being a big prosecutor and then becoming a judge like her. It's cool though because she likes the whole genetic research idea."

Hay Lin was trying to spin her spoon like a top. "You guys tell me how you like it. When I get out of school, I'll still be serving egg foo yung. Dad wants me to go to this chef school."

Irma said, "Nothing wrong with that. You and Grandma Lin both make a mean mushu chicken."

"You know what? Some people my art professor introduced me to are interested in some of my paintings!" Hay Lin clapped as she spoke.

Will, who was engrossed in whatever she was reading on her laptop, absentmindedly said, "I always liked your Xanadu one. That was my favorite."

"Thank you!"

"What do you want to do?" Taranee asked Will.

"I don't know. My mom just wants me to get better grades. I'm so good with languages, she thinks I should be a translator or a transcriber. I'm not even sure I'm going to stay on Earth."

Cornelia raised an eyebrow. "You mean as in, permanent relocation to Meridian?"

"I mean, let's face it. What use am I here?"

Taranee looked down at her sundae and back to Will and said, "You know, Will. Good grades aren't the key to a good future. There are plenty of successful people in the world that couldn't manage to finish school."

Will said, "Name one."

"Bill Gates, who spent nearly a decade as the richest man in the world. Albert Einstein, who was lousy at math, FYI." Taranee raised her hand to count fingers off.

"Alright, I get it! Taranee, those people were geniuses."

"And how do you know you're not? Like Hay Lin, talking nonsense half the time, but look at her paintings."

Hay Lin, rather indignant, said, "Hey!"

Irma said, "Will, if you flunk high school, I don't think the solution is leaving the planet. I'm sorry, and what about your mother? You're the only family she has."

Will shrugged. "She has Professor Collins. They're getting married, remember? I can bring her with me. She can barely make ends meet, hates having to live in an apartment, and it's not like she's providing an indispensable service to the world. She's an office executive."

Cornelia said, "What about Matt?" When Will didn't answer, Cornelia went on. "Will, I'd love to be able to just pick a world and say, 'Who needs the other place,' but there are people here that I can't take with me and there is no way I am leaving them behind. You're not going to just leave your father behind, no matter how many problems you have with him. You're not going to leave your boyfriend. Do you know why? Because you love them."

Hay Lin said, "Besides, that would mean telling your mother about our secret."

Will had to admit defeat. They were right. She couldn't just leave her friends and family behind. Human Will was needed just as much as Guardian Will was. *Taranee, are you inside my head?*

*Sorry, you're making me nervous with talk about leaving. I was wondering what you were thinking. I couldn't help myself.*

Will nodded. "Sometimes I wish my mother did know. I mean, I don't want her to know. It's just, there are times, she says something, or she just starts doing something, and you can tell she just feels helpless, and I know what she's thinking. She's thinking she doesn't know what to do with me and that she's going to let me down because she can't figure out what to do. What we do. That's the one thing...if she knew what I did, she'd know everything was going to be alright. That I'm not going to grow up to be a criminal or some kind of deadbeat."

Irma said, "We understand. We totally get it. You've got this whole Clark Kent thing happening. Sometimes you feel like throwing in all of your cards and telling Lois you're Superman."

Will laughed. "Well, I think I need to use my super speed to get to the bathroom."

As Will left, Cornelia said, "God, you know, I think we totally need psychiatrists to deal with this whole Guardian thing."

Hay Lin said, "True identity versus secret identity is what's known as duality." Cornelia, Irma, and Taranee all gave her bemused looks. "What?"

Will saw to her needs in the bathroom and found herself staring at herself in the mirror. Magic, sorcery, being a Guardian and defending Kandrakar was all that she knew. One day, she simply wouldn't be a Guardian. She had no idea how she could go to a normal life after all of that. How had Yan Lin done it? How had any of them? She pictured Nerissa, who was one that couldn't let go, and suddenly she was terrified. That was the kind of thinking that led to Nerissa's downfall.

Will looked towards the door. She had heard a voice call for help. As she moved towards it, the call for help came again. She looked around, startled. The voice had definitely come from behind her, from a great distance, much further than the bathroom wall. Then, the void between realms tore before her and she found herself falling down a slope and into a mud pit. It wasn't a very good landing, but then again, she was usually in control of where she was going between realms. She stood up and climbed out of the mud pit and took a look at herself. Her school uniform would take an hour to scrub the stains out of.

She looked at her surroundings. She was in a familiar field dotted with trees, a village just visible, and a castle prominent behind it. What had dragged her to Metamoor? Whatever had happened, the circumstance was strange, to say the least. Will was no fool. She held out her hand and drew the Heart of Kandrakar from the ether. She intended to collect Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin, and return with full Guardian power. Unfortunately, something had other ideas. The Heart refused to open the rift. "Okay, no reinforcements then. Nice."

It was an hour walk to the castle. She would have stopped in the city but being alone and unable to send for help instilled in her a sense of urgency. Frightened eyes watched her from behind windows as she passed, turning to glances of hope. Yes, something was definitely wrong, here. Reaching the castle gate, she met a horrible sight. The gate guards were frozen in time. They were distorted as if made of gypsum. Passing swiftly through the gate, Will found that the rest of the castle was the same. Guards everywhere were frozen in various poses of surprise or attack. She held the Heart of Kandrakar and transformed into her Guardian form.

Will made her way to the throne room. Caleb was nowhere to be seen. Elyon, on the other hand, was suspended from the ceiling in an iron cage. Will flew up to the cage and tried to find where it opened. When Elyon saw Will, she cried out, "Will, it's a trap!" It was too late. A bolt of energy struck Will in the back of the head, burning off some of her hair, and some of her scalp. She recoiled, hitting her head on the cage and falling to the floor. She wasn't unconscious, and her head was racked with pain, the bump from the cage and the excruciating pain from the burn combining to generate one mother of a headache.

A horribly familiar voice said, "Excellent, Davira. Let's see how much damage you did." A hand unmercifully gripped her hair and pulled her head forward. The other hand probed the back her head. "How delightful. You've exposed bone."

Will, forced her eyes open and looked into the face of her nemesis, Phobos. "I don't suppose you'd be considerate enough to get me a doctor?"

"Nonsense, Wilhelmina. You're injuries aren't permanent."

Will said, "Yeah, I was just hoping for some aspirin...or Thorazine."

Phobos smiled congenially. "Miss Vandem, you can have anything you want in exchange for the Heart of Kandrakar."

"Nah, you wouldn't want it. Performance issues. It doesn't open up all of your powers at once. It divides your obligations. Seriously."

"Well, I'm certain I can look into those issues once you hand it over. Give me the Heart."

"I'm sorry, the product you are trying to acquire is currently not available. Try again when Hell freezes over."

Phobos' smile became disturbingly sinister. "My dear Wilhelmina. I assure you, Hell has frozen over."

The woman called Davira said, "Why not just kill her and take it?"

"The Heart of Kandrakar is a special case. It cannot be taken by such crude means. It has to be gifted. If you kill her, the Heart will serve nobody until it has chosen another keeper. That means we have to break her. It shall be my deepest pleasure."

Will didn't know how she would escape this. If the Heart would not open the rift, and the Veil was lifted, the other Guardians were stranded on Earth. With that cheerful thought, she lost consciousness.

When she regained consciousness, she thought she was dreaming. She was on the trash strewn beach where she and her friends experimented with their powers for the first time. She reached to feel the back of her head. The tissue was tender and felt obviously disfigured, but there was hair growing from it. Add that to the list of scars she had collected as a Guardian, but she couldn't understand. It was completely healed and with a burn like that, how long would it take before hair even started to grow again? This hair was nearly an inch long, though it still had quite a ways to go to catch up to the rest of her, admittedly, short bob, but it was still more than a few days could account for.

Had she been in a coma? Had Phobos found a way to take the Heart and discarded the now powerless Guardian on Earth? Will raised her hand, reached into the ether, and the Heart of the Kandrakar dropped from the nothingness and dangled against her arm. She breathed a sigh of relief. So what had happened? Had she escaped, saved the day, and suffered from some kind of amnesia? Somehow, she didn't think so. "No," she said to the air, "I clearly have all of my memory." She stood and began to walk, feeling a burning soreness in her back. "Je m'appelle Wilma. J'ai vieux pour une fraise. I still know French."

Will walked through Heatherfield, hoping to find her way to the Silver Dragon without being seen. She would tell the girls what happened, but when she made it to the Silver Dragon, she found a mess of people and paper. She walked in and found her mother, father, and Professor Collins, clearly distressed talking with Matt, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Hay Lin, and some of their parents, including, Irma's father, and-Will realized with a jolt-other police.

Cornelia noticed Will first, and attached herself to her, catching her in a tight hug. "Oh my God! Where have you been?"

Will, still trapped by Cornelia's hug, couldn't hold her ears, so she clenched her teeth. "Cornelia, you're screaming in my ear!"

More quietly, Cornelia said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Do you have any idea how worried we've been?"

Will didn't know how long she had been gone for, but she suspected that it was awhile. Still, all she remembered was an hour after the bathroom. She wasn't sure she wanted to know how long it had been. She opened her eyes and found that everyone had crowded around her, but they made way for her mother. Pulling Cornelia back, her mother drew Will into tight hug and started sobbing. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I didn't think we'd ever find you again."

Will laughed, though it was painful. She was feeling muscle aches she couldn't explain. "I can't have been gone that long."

Taranee said, "Will, you've been gone for two months."

Will jolted back, her surprised mother releasing her. "What?"

Irma said, "Will, look around you. The Silver Dragon has become the Help Find Wilma Vandom headquarters." Will saw stacks of fliers with her picture on them, "Have you seen this girl," emblazoned on them. "Even the feds have gotten involved. There's a nationwide search."

Taranee said, "Will, look at yourself. Look in a mirror."

Will turned to the mirror wall she was startled by what she saw. Along with her own look of shear disbelief, were cuts and bruises, clearly from having been beaten. Dried blood, her own, and dirt covered her torn and abused shirt. "But we were only just having ice cream at..."

"Will," said Hay Lin, "that's the last place we saw you."

One of the policemen gently asked, "Can you tell us what happened?"

Will shook her head, still in shocked disbelief. "I can't remember."


	2. Exposure

It was two days before Will was released from the hospital. The doctor's conclusions were that she had been tortured, and that her amnesia was a defense mechanism, deliberately suppressing the memory of horrific trauma. In her gut, Will knew that that wasn't the case, but not wanting more batteries of tests or questions, didn't object. The police were now searching for unknown kidnappers and assailants, and much of Will's time was spent evading the questions of reporters-she had become global news. Wondering about motive, countless investigations had been run. Will wasn't known by any gangs. She didn't have a criminal record, and according to doctors, her blood showed no sign of ever having been in contact with illegal drugs-though police assured her that she wouldn't have been in trouble, given the circumstances.

She felt all of this was a waste of time. It had nothing to do with Earth, but the police couldn't know that, so she didn't complain. It wasn't until a day later that she could finally be alone with the other Guardians and those who knew their secret. They met in one of their secret places, a large shed in Irma's yard as the Silver Dragon's basement was still full of "Find Will Vandom" paraphernalia. When Will got there, escorted by Hay Lin-Will's mother was still paranoid about letting her out of anyone's sight-the whole room fell silent, all eyes on her. She was surprised to see Caleb there.

Will nodded and closed her eyes. "Phobos is back."

Cornelia snorted derisively and said, "We know. I knew that's what had happened to you. I just knew it."

Will wasn't surprised. "Tell me."

Caleb said, "Phobos attacked the castle with a new lackey."

"Davira."

"He had a Heart of the Cosmos and took the power of the Crown of Light. He froze all of the guards and captured me. He said he had something special planned. Vathek rescued me and the Oracle brought me here. We've tried searching Meridian for you, but Phobos is in charge again, and it hasn't been easy. We weren't even sure if Phobos had you until you confirmed it just now."

Will said, "I went to the bathroom, and I thought I heard Elyon calling for help. Then the rift opened and dragged me in. I decided to come back and get the girls, but I couldn't rift back to Earth. So I investigated. I found the castle, with the guards frozen, and they had Elyon suspended in a steel cage. While I was trying to free Elyon, Davira hit me in the back of the head with a spell. Doctors say I was scalped to the bone. Phobos knows that the Heart of Kandrakar has to be given and when I refused, he said he would take pleasure in breaking me."

"And did he?" asked Matt.

Will held out her hand and the Heart of Kandrakar dangled beneath it. "Does it look like it?"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Caleb said, "Thank the gods. I wasn't looking forward to facing Phobos with three Hearts without the Guardians. How did you escape?"

"I don't remember. I literally remember nothing after Phobos promised to break me, until I woke up on Shell Beach. I am missing two whole months."

"During which time, Phobos obviously tortured you."

Hay Lin, tears in her eyes, said, "Oh, no! So, you really do have amnesia and you're traumatized for life!"

Will forcefully said, "No, it's not amnesia." Speaking more calmly, she said, "I don't know how I know, but I just know that if this were amnesia, it would feel different. First, I have absolutely no perception of time having passed. It was like I literally went to sleep and instantly woke up in Heatherfield. It's a weird feeling. It's like it's just a hole. It's like...it's this feeling...it's...it feels like every night when I go to bed, somebody takes me completely apart and puts me away, then when I wake up, he puts me back together again, and then one day, he forgot to put this memory in, and he hasn't done it since. If this were amnesia, there'd be something there, out of reach, I know it. This is just a void."

Caleb said, "Alright then, we need a plan of attack. Kandrakar must be trying to move against Phobos. We're going to have to dislodge him again, and he's stronger than ever before."

Hay Lin shook her head. "It feels strange. We haven't heard from Phobos in so many years, not since he tried to take over Kandrakar."

"He moved fast, and he had so much more power than before."

Will said, "Well, we'll have to move faster."

Cornelia said, "Will, he has two Hearts in addition to his own considerable power. We can't just attack."

Will rubbed her chin. "Caleb, are you up to some reconnoitering?"

Caleb said, "I read you."

Irma approached Will and put a hand on her shoulder. "Will, are you okay?"

Will shook her head. "No, but I will be."

An unknown figure watched them through eyes of mystic sight, unseen by the Guardians. They had no idea how their world was to be turned upside down. Now, Phobos had two hearts, but so did this mysterious figure. They had made a deal. They would help each other, and the first to break the contract would take possession of all of the hearts in their mutual possession. This figure knew something about such contracts. If Phobos did not keep the deal, they would.

Will's Apartment

"Wilhelmina Vandom!" shouted Susan Vandom as Will walked through the door. Will cringed at the sound of her full name. It was either Will or Wilma. Her mother never used her full name. "Why are you walking home alone?" Susan ran up to her daughter and looked her over, apparently seeking some sign that more injury had befallen Will. Susan was obviously surprised to see her daughter healed so much, but she nodded in satisfaction. "After what happened, you'd think you'd be a bit more careful."

Will said, "Mom, Matt walked me home. He left me at the door downstairs."

"Next time, have him bring you to this door!" She pointed at the front door. "You and the girls were in the same building when you disappeared from under their noses. It could happen here. What's the point of sending you out with Hay Lin if you're going to come home alone?"

"Somehow, I doubt lightening is going to strike twice, especially now that I'm famous for disappearing. I could have done without that." Her mother was simply worried and Will felt bad about snapping at her. "But I know it was the best way to find me. I'm sorry. I'll make sure I'm accompanied all the way from now on."

Susan smiled. "No, I'm sorry. You're right. I guess I'm all keyed up after what happened." There was a knock at the door. "Did you see anyone?" Will shook her head. Susan went to the door and opened it. "May I help you?"

A woman on the other side of the door said, "Are you Susan Vandom?"

"Yes."

"I'm Karen Alcott with the Division of Children and Family Services. May I come in?"

Susan seemed taken aback as she said, "Of course, come right in. Would you like something to drink?"

A middle-aged woman, somewhat rotund, with black hair stepped into the room. "Oh, no thank you. I would like to meet your daughter, though."

Mrs. Alcott's eyes swept across the room and focused on Will and smiled. There was something in that smile that Will didn't like. She resisted the urge to take out the Heart and try to reveal this woman's true form. "Are you Wilhelmina Vandom?"

Will cringed again. "It's Will. You haven't told us why you're here." She felt a great deal of hostility towards this woman.

"Oh, in cases like this, it's standard procedure to do a home study, to see if there are any contributing factors in your home life that might have led to your disappearance."

Will said, "The apartment's clean. My grades are up. I'm well-adjusted. My mother's gainfully employed."

Mrs. Alcott nodded. She walked around the room, stopped at a book shelf and looked at the titles. "Oh, that looks interesting. I've never read much on alchemy."

Will was on her toes. "I have an interest in science. I like animals. Historical forms of science had a great influence on modern science. I'm interested in roots." She certainly couldn't tell her that she was learning about the magical nature of the elements since the age of twelve.

Mrs. Alcott walked around to the kitchen and without asking, opened the refrigerator. Closing it, she then went through all of the cabinets. "An awful lot of junk food."

Susan must have been on edge too, because she said, "An awful lot of good, healthy food, too."

Mrs. Alcott said, "Still, Will seems healthy and well fed. What do you do for a living?"

"I'm an Executive Officer for a computer software company downtown. It's called Simulcorp."

"Give me the contact information when I leave. Right now, Will, I want to see your room." Silently, Will led Mrs. Alcott to her room. "Oh, my. You have a thing for frogs." She laughed. "You even have a frog backpack. Oh, and of course, Kermit had to be lurking in here somewhere." She found the Muppet and picked him up, examining him. "Did you ever watch the Muppet Show?"

Will said, "My mom has seasons one through three."

"It was before your time of course. I was a teenager when it came out. It was one of my favorite shows." Will smiled. Anyone who liked the Muppet Show couldn't be all bad, but she still didn't trust her.

"Do you have a favorite episode?"

"I like the one with Elton John."

Mrs. Alcott laughed. "Oh! The crocodiles singing back up on the Crocodile Rock! Yes, that episode was a lot of fun."

Going back out into the living room, Mrs. Alcott said, "I have just a few questions for you, Mrs. Vandom. How long have you lived in Heatherfield?"

"Four years," said Susan. "Since Will was thirteen."

"In this apartment?"

Susan nodded.

"How often have you changed jobs?"

"I haven't. I've worked for the same firm for eight or nine years. Here's their card with my extension." Susan handed the card over. Alcott briefly looked it over and put it in her briefcase.

"Will's grades seem to fluctuate more than one would normally expect from a seventeen-year-old girl."

Susan said, "She didn't take it well when her father and I split up. We moved to Heatherfield to get her away from the bad memories. She's really had a boost in confidence here. She has friends, and her grades are getting better."

"Are you currently dating?"

"I'm engaged, actually."

"Good! It'll be good for her to have a consistent father figure in her life. Well, I've seen what I need to see. I doubt she ran away. She's very protective of you."

"Oh?" Susan seemed puzzled. "How can you tell?"

"Her hackles have been up since I came in."

Will suddenly felt very sheepish. "Oh! Sorry."

"Oh, no. Don't be. It's a perfectly normal reaction to a perceived threat in the home." Mrs. Alcott turned back to Susan. "The police are going to come back tomorrow to ask Will some in depth questions about what she can remember. I know it seems soon, but they've given her as much time as they can. They can't let the trail get cold. I'll be there too. I suggest you and your fiance be here for support in case she needs it. Police interviews can get emotionally trying." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a card. "Here's my number if you have any questions." She handed Susan the card and walked to the door. "We'll be here tomorrow at about three o'clock. Will, you need to be home from school by then."

Once Mrs. Alcott left, Susan said, "I'll have a lawyer here, too."

Will said, "Why? Didn't she say everything was fine?"

"Will, DCFS workers have a tremendous amount of power. They were established to protect children, and laws were placed that used 'for the children's sake' as an excuse. They do not need a warrant. They do not even need to have a reason to remove a child. When asked why they remove children, they can say anything they want and do not even have to provide proof. The only thing that can stop them is a court order, and even then, a judge's signature is no guarantee of a reversal in a DCFS decision. Tomorrow, just answer the police questions, say nothing about your home life, and if any of them ask you what you think of me, your father, or Dean, just smile and say that we are all the most wonderful people in your life. DCFS workers have power that's above the system."

Will wasted no time going to her room and telling her fellow Guardians about this turn of events. Rather than using her phone, she simply thought for Taranee's mind. *What's up?* came the response.

Will transmitted everything that happened and heard Cornelia's voice. *A social worker? That is _so_ not good news.*

*What did she want?* asked Hay Lin.

*She said it was standard procedure in kidnapping cases were there was no suspect. It was a home study. She's coming back with the police tomorrow for my full interview. I want you guys there.*

Irma said, *I'm there.*

Hay Lin said, *Count me in.*

Cornelia said, *Any time.*

Taranee said, *You bet. If you want, I can talk to my mom. You know she's a judge. She might have some advice.*

*Any little bit helps. See you at school tomorrow.*

After breaking their psychic link, Will jumped into bed and turned on her Playstation 3. The next day was the first day back to school. It was an uneventful day, except for the excessively concerned teachers who worried about Will's mental state. Still, all she could think of was the interview, an interview she associated with impending doom. Her feeling of dizziness throughout the day seemed to confirm it. Something dark and magical was watching her. She could feel it.

Before even the final bell at school, Mrs. Alcott and the police were waiting for Will, but something else was too. When Will walked in the door, she took an inventory of her visitors. In addition to her mother there was Mrs. Alcott, two police detectives dressed in pants and sweaters, Professor Collins and a woman that Will didn't know, clearly the lawyer. There was something sinister about her. Mrs. Alcott was positively angelic by comparison. Her feelings of evil about Alcott were simple dislike. This woman, on the other hand, was inhumanly evil. She was beautiful, but that was the only good thing about her. Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin came in behind Will. Mrs. Alcott greeted them and introduced the detectives as Stevens and Alvarez.

Susan said, "Will, Caroline Davira, from our legal department." Will could feel her pupils dilate when she heard the name.

"Davira?" she asked.

Cornelia said, "Hey, isn't that-"

Will stomped her foot. "Shut up." Davira didn't miss it.

Neither did the detectives. "Is something wrong?" asked Stevens.

Will said, "Oh, Cornelia just reminded me that...umm...there's a new girl in school with the exact last name!"

"Oh, that must be my daughter," said Davira in the same simpering voice that Will remembered from Meridian.

Will broadcast to the others, *It's definitely her.*

Davira's presence sorely tempted Will to tell everyone in the room, but she kept her story straight. She assured everyone that her memory was a complete blank. Unfortunately, Will had a sick sense Davira intended to go after her family. Will could sense the adults in the room becoming irritated as the police went through the same set of questions for the third time. Davira appeared to be losing her patience. She wasn't going to wait much longer, and Will wanted to get her away from her parents. *Oh, no, foolish girl.* It was Davira's simpering voice in her head. *Little rebellious brats who challenge the laws of entire worlds deserve no secrets.*

"Alright," said officer Stevens, "Let's go back to the top. Nobody was following you that you know of when you were at Sheffield Institute?"

Will growled and said, "No."

"And you received no threats in the preceding week?"

"No."

Professor Collins said, "Officer, we've been through this over and over. When do you acknowledge that you're beating a dead horse?"

Detective Stevens said, "Mr. Collins, we are at a complete loss. There are no leads at the Freezer Queen ice cream parlor. Anyone who was there that day had no involvement. They all checked out. There are no leads at Shell Beach, where Miss Vandom claims to have woken up."

"'Claims'," said Will, indignant.

"I don't mean to imply anything, Miss Vandom, it's just that until we can confirm what little you've been able to tell us, we can't take anything at face value. Whoever did this to you is definitely not the kind of person any reasonable person wants in the community. We want to catch this guy. With so little to go on, we have to get as much out of you as we can no matter how insignificant. It's a very frustrating situation. Now, are you sure you aren't forgetting anything?"

Irma said, "Cornelia dope slapped Hay Lin that day. Does that help?"

Stevens rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Unfortunately not. Girls, are you sure that none of you can remember anything at all of interest?"

Everyone shook thei

r heads. "No," said Taranee, "the ice cream parlor wasn't real busy when we went there, and Will was the only one we saw go into the bathroom, and nobody came out."

Stevens nodded. "We're done with our questions. Mrs. Alcott wants to talk to you. We're going to stick around until you're done."

Will nodded, though she wanted to scream. This had gone on for an hour, and she knew they'd never find anything, but she appreciated they were only trying to help her. Mrs. Alcott said, "Right, I want to talk about arranging for a neurologist to see if any kind of brain damage could be contributing to your memory loss."

"I doubt that," said Stevens. "In my experience memory loss like this is based more on emotional trauma. She's in a very vulnerable position right now and probably doesn't want to remember what happened. The real indicator is the fact that the amnesia is specific to the two months that she went missing."

"All the same, we should rule everything out before just dismissing it."

Will felt indignation again and said, "'Vulnerable'? Detective, I'm one of the hardest people you'll ever meet. You wouldn't believe some of the things I could tell you."

A few chuckles went around the room, except Stevens, who balked when he saw that Will wasn't laughing. "So, Mrs. Alcott," he said, "what are some options that the Vandoms have open to them?"

Davira was ready to crack, and Will knew time was up. Davira said, "I've had just about enough of this."

Will decided to take a chance. "I thought I recognized your voice. Officers, Davira was there when I blacked out. I heard her and then I was hit from behind."

The detectives looked around uncertain. Alvarez said, "Will, I'm sure you've been through a terrible ordeal, and I doubt that Mrs. Davira had anything to do with it."

Davira said, "Oh no. She's quite right. That's why I wanted to be here today. I didn't get what I wanted from her. She's the most elusive prey I've ever hunted."

Absolutely everyone in the room looked at Davira as if she had suddenly fallen from space. Davira stretched out her hand and Alvarez froze, as if removed from time. Will's family surrounded her and she was bound and determined not to use the heart unless she absolutely had to. Stevens moved to shield Will, but Will was moving to shield her mother and Professor Collins. Fireballs struck Davira in the back and the arms. Taranee's hands were on fire. Davira stretched out a hand to Will's friends, but they scattered, and whatever invisible force Davira threw at them struck a picture mural of Will, her family, and her friends, shattering the glass. When Officer Stevens reached Will, an energy field erupted from her hand, shielding her family and Officer Stevens. Mrs. Alcott was trying her best to shield the other girls. As it happened, they had to protect her. Davira launched a fireball at her and Irma doused it with a spray of water.

Davira realized that she was at a disadvantage. "Blast it all!"

Will said, "You just did," and stepped out from behind her magical barrier.

Will had never felt so angry. Davira shot various missiles at Will, but Will just knocked them away with her hand. In the back of her mind, Will could tell that every conscious person in the room, including her fellow guardians, were looking at her in stunned shock. In her waking time here and now, she had eyes only for Davira, who had collapsed her entire world. Her mother and her teacher and future stepfather; they knew her secret now. Will didn't care that she had been kidnapped, tortured and lost two months of her life. What made her angry was losing her secret.

Will fired quintessential bolts of lightning at Davira. Will could smell her skin frying; see her skeleton flash beneath her flesh. She ran and jump kicked Davira in the chest, hurling her through a wall into a neighbor's apartment. Will shouted, "Nobody takes me by surprise and gets away with it!" The neighbor's weren't home, thankfully. Davira didn't seem to be stirring. Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin ran to Will's side. Everyone else stood in stunned shock. Her father didn't emerge from her room. Will lowered the protective shield around Officer Stevens and her family. She then went to Alvarez and placed a palm on his forehead.

Alvarez unfroze, staggered backward and looked around. "What just happened?"

Will closed her eyes, trying to blink back tears that had suddenly threatened to spill. She looked at her mother, who wore an expression of quiet horror mingled with awe. Professor Collins' expression was unfathomable. Will said, "My world just fell apart. That's what."

Rubble from the neighbor's apartment exploded into the room. Davira rose, wreathed in a halo of malevolent energy. "You'll pay dearly for that."

This time, Stevens and Alvarez were ready, their guns instantly in hand. "Surrender now, or we will be forced to open fire."

Davira fired a bolt of energy between them. Their reflexes did them credit. Diving out of the way, they opened fire, their bullets ricocheting off of Davira's halo. Bullets whizzed through the room, one striking Cornelia in the shoulder. Everyone dove for cover. Mrs. Alcott, Professor Collins, and Susan hid behind the kitchen counter. "Hey!" Cornelia shouted. "Stop shooting before you hurt one of us."

Taranee and Irma doused Davira with boiling water. Angry red weals formed on her face and hands. Her suit and shirt were torn from having been thrown through the rubble. More red weals from the boiling water could be seen on exposed skin. Cornelia made plates fly from the kitchen cabinet and strike Davira. Hay Lin was maintaining a steady blast of ice cold air. Davira was overpowered, and she knew it.

Mrs. Alcott shouted, "Guardians! You have to get her out of here!"

Will shouted, "I knew you weren't human!" She tried to open the rift.

Davira lunged for the Heart of Kandrakar. Cornelia tried to pull Will out of the way, but Davira plowed into both of them, all three hurtling into the kitchen. Then the fold opened.


	3. Revelations

They weren't in Heatherfield. Well...they were in a heather field, but they weren't in Heatherfield. Will checked and reassured herself that she still had the Heart of Kandrakar. The glowing jewel bathed her and the area in its light. Davira was nowhere to be seen. Will's stomach clenched. Her mother was there, with Professor Collins and Mrs. Alcott. Cornelia had come too. Susan was staring into the distance, unable to absorb all that had happened. Professor Collins was checking on Cornelia. Cornelia's shoulder had an egg shaped bruise on it. So everyone was alright.

"I guess the bullet didn't go in because I'm getting super tough!"

Professor Collins laughed. "No Miss Hale. These bullets ricocheted so they lost a lot of energy by the time this one made it to you. Ricochets very rarely penetrate thick skin like your shoulder. Most ricochet injuries happen in thinner skin, or where there's no skin at all, like the eye."

Cornelia blushed. "Oh, well. I just thought, since every once in a while, my powers get stronger, you know..."

"Powers..." said Susan, her expression distant and vague. She turned to Will and her eyes widened. "How could you keep something like this from me?"

Will felt her heart sink somewhere into her stomach. "Mom, I'm sorry. I just wanted something normal to look forward to every day. None of us told anyone. We were all afraid of what would happen if you knew."

Dean said, "Will, Cornelia, I think your parents would want to know something like this. I certainly would."

Susan said, "Something like what? I'm still not even sure what we've seen." Susan turned around, taking in her surroundings. "What have we seen? Where are we?"

Will wasn't sure what hurt worse, the guilt at having lied to her mother for all of this time, or the helplessness she heard in her mother's voice.

"They are the Guardians of the Infinite Realms," said Mrs. Alton. "It is their job to make sure the evil of the worlds of all reality do not cross the rift to each other."

Susan's face turned red with anger. "I'm sorry? Their jobs are to go to school, grow up, and have a normal life."

"The Guardians are chosen as they come to womanhood, which if you know your biology, happens at about eleven or twelve. Someone must shoulder the responsibility." Mrs. Alcott had a smug look on her face as she spoke, clearly believing she had knowledge above anything Susan could imagine.

"And I had no say so in the matter?" Susan's voice became low and dangerous.

"Begging your pardon, Mrs. Vandom, but nobody has a say in matter. The Heart of Kandrakar chooses which five will assume the task; five girls whose talents embody the four elements of nature and the fifth element that binds them together."

Susan stared at Mrs. Alcott blankly and said, "The Heart of what?"

Dean put her hands on Susan's shoulders. "Look Susan, we have no idea where we are. The sky doesn't look like any sky I've ever seen. It might be better if we try to understand this later."

"No, Dean. We are going to understand this now! We are here because of...whatever has happened."

Will said, "Look, I'd rather be the one to talk to my mom about this."

Susan didn't take her eyes off of Mrs. Alcott. "No! This is my daughter. You don't just get to take her and throw her into something dangerous and I don't even have a say in the matter."

Mrs. Alcott said, "I'm sorry, but that's how it is."

"How it is?"

"Do you think Moses asked his parent's permission when he led the Hebrew to freedom? Did Queen Boudicca have her parent's permission to sacrifice herself driving the Romans from Ireland? Did the United States government get the permission of the parents of millions of soldiers when they sent them to put a stop to Hitler's reign of terror? Children don't get to choose when they grow up, and just because they are young, that doesn't mean they get a reprieve. The old Guardians were no more, either elderly or dead, and a new generation was selected. We don't choose who. We don't get to let them wait until they are older. The Heart of Kandrakar chooses, the Guardians are always drawn to Heatherfield where the five elements are strongest on Earth, and when that happens, all that any of us can do is guide them, and while they are protecting us, if we are able, we may occasionally protect them."

"This is what happened to my daughter these past two months, isn't it?" Susan screamed.

Will said, "Mom, it happened. I can't change it, but I'm alright and I'm going to fix it. I'm not going to back down from this. I'm going to face it on my feet. I've faced worse and I always come out on top."

Will could see the changes in her mother's mood as understanding sunk in. She did not know what her daughter was, but the secret was revealed, and Susan was beginning to understand that it was beyond her power. Far from protecting her daughter from the world, her daughter was protecting the world. Mrs. Alcott looked at Susan with an expression of utmost sympathy. Will put a hand on her mother's shoulder, almost expecting her to shy away, but she didn't. Instead, Susan put a hand on Will's.

"Mom, I didn't want to tell you because I thought I could keep you to myself. I thought that we could keep things they always were. And I didn't want you to be scared." Will looked at her feet. "But things haven't been the way they always were, have they? Things just keep getting messed."

Susan turned and drew Will close to her, and hugging her she said, "You promise me we'll talk about this and you explain this to me, okay?"

Cornelia said, "Just who are you? How does a social worker know about this?"

Mrs. Alcott looked at her apologetically as she said, "When Luba was killed by Nerissa, I was placed in charge of guarding your aurameres."

"Orube!" Mrs. Alcott transformed into a cat like creature. Susan screamed and jumped five feet back.

Will couldn't believe it. "You're my social worker?" Both Will and Cornelia could not contain themselves. They ran up and hugged Orube.

Orube said, "You're auramere vanished. When it did not come back, I became concerned. I came to Earth to try and protect you, but I could not return to Kandrakar. I posed as a government employee named Karen Alcott-you would not believe how pathetic their security is."

"What do you mean, my auramere vanished? How could it vanish, and how could I still have my powers?"

"I do not know. I came to find you to try and solve that mystery."

Will sighed at just another problem she had to face. "Why did I think you were a monster when we first met?"

Dean said, "You mean she's not?"

Cornelia said, "Hey, be nice. She doesn't look that bad."

Orube shot Cornelia a nasty look and then turned back to Will. "I'm sorry, Will. I had to be convincing so your mother wouldn't think anything was wrong."

Will asked, "When did my auramere disappear?"

"Four days ago."

"And how do you know about any of that stuff you just told my mom?"

Orube smiled. "It is thanks to the years of teaching you and your friends gave me about being human. I learned a joy for reading."

Something even more absurd occurred to Will. "How do you know about the Muppet Show?"

Orube laughed and shook her head.

Will and Cornelia exchanged meaningful looks. That had been the day before she returned to Heatherfield with no memory of what happened after being captured. Will looked back at her family. She used the Heart of Kandrakar to try opening the rift. "Okay, how come that isn't working?"

"When Phobos took the throne back from Elyon, we sought to once again contain his evil. The Council of Kandrakar tried to lower the Veil onto Metamoor, but Phobos was ready this time. He has placed talismans to try to force the Veil open."

"So sometimes I can fold, and sometimes I can't. Let me guess, portals will work?"

Orube shrugged. "You can try."

Will tried to open a portal, to no avail. Again, she tried to open the rift. No luck. "I guess we walk."

Sarina asked, "Where are we?"

Will said, "Metamoor."

Cornelia said, "So we can't get back. Wonderful. Hey, didn't Caleb say Phobos has pretty much taken over everything here?"

"Yeah, it might be in our best interest to find an entrance into the Infinite City."

Back in Heatherfield...

It looked like a tornado had gone through the Vandam's apartment. Their living room was destroyed. The neighbor's kitchen had suffered the same degree of demolition. The only sound was a broken pipe spraying a geyser of water where the neighbor's kitchen sink had been. Taranee lifted a piece of sheet-rock off of her, surprised by how heavy it actually was. Hay Lin had been underneath it too and when she found herself free, stood up and brushed herself off.

A television laying on its side-it must have belonged to Will because it moaned-said, "Oh...I think I sprained a transistor."

Irma flung a pair of couch cushions off of herself. She stood up and surveyed the carnage. There was a hole in the outer wall, a giant orifice that opened to a several story drop. "Wow, now's the time to install a balcony."

"Irma," said Hay Lin, "This is serious. Will and her mother, and Professor Collins went through a fold."

Irma said, "I'm serious too. Half the work is already done. Think of how much money it'll save them on construction."

Taranee said, "It'll be okay. Cornelia's with them."

Irma thrust her thumb to the right, indicating a moaning pile of rubble. "Hey, Taranee, I think a couple of loose ends are waking up. I'll take care of their memories. Can you give us evidence of a gas explosion?"

Taranee held her arms out and a burst of fire emanated from her, washing over everything, not damaging anything, but adding soot and singes to everything in its path, including Irma and Hay Lin.

"Ow!" said Hay Lin. "Be careful. I'd like to keep my eyebrows."

"Quit complaining," said Irma. "We can't pull it off if we look pristine. Speaking of which, Taranee, you need a bit of a fire makeover, too."

Within seconds, Taranee was covered in soot and the edges of her clothes were singed. It wasn't a moment too soon because Stevens and Alvarez were getting to their feet.

Stevens said, "Are you kids okay?"

Alvarez said, "Where did she go?"

"Where did who go?" asked Irma.

"The one who started this, something Davira?"

Stevens shook his head. "No, there wasn't anyone here except us, these girls and Will's family."

Irma felt a knot forming in her chest. Her powers of suggestion weren't working on Alvarez.

Alvarez looked from person to person. "Someone's playing a trick on me. It was that Davira woman. She did something. She pulled something. She attacked us and made this mess, and she took off with Will, one of your friends, and some of the adults."

Taranee and Hay Lin looked at Irma accusingly. All Irma could do was stand looking helpless. As Alvarez emerged, Irma said, "Really, this looks like it was probably a gas explosion."

Alvarez narrowed his eyes at her and said, "Looks that way, but the video will tell us one way or the other." He pulled a recording device out of his pocket and disconnected a tiny camera from his shirt collar. "I know what I saw."

Irma's expression fell. "Video?"

Taranee and Hay Lin exchanged looks. Alvarez was going to be a serious problem. Taranee's voice was in Hay Lin and Irma's minds. *We need to make sure that video is erased, lost, or both.*

Irma and Hay Lin nodded their agreement. It was clear now. Will and Cornelia were trapped with problems, probably in Metamoor, but it was Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin's job to make sure that home was safe to come back to.

This would take some planning.

In throne room of Meridian...

Phobos sat upon his throne observing the two before him. One was his minion, Davira. The other was the Alchemist, a partner that Phobos hadn't particularly wanted. The Alchemist had made a deal with Phobos: she would help him gather hearts so long as they had equal shares. She had been a prisoner, and once his greatest enemy but what she had promised had been too good to turn down. The Alchemist had begun her task three days ago. Phobos already possessed the Hearts of Meridian and Ulnra, and the Alchemist was in possession of the Star of Cassidy, and he had some suspicions regarding how she might have acquired it without the Heart of Kandrakar. That was already three hearts between them.

Having known where they were, the Alchemist returned almost a day later, in possession of the Shadow Heart and the Heart of Zambala, and she presented Phobos with the Heart of Iridia. Now, as soon as she procured the Heart of Kandrakar for him, Phobos would relieve her of her burden, and rather than kill her, he would reward her for her help. He would imprison her next to his now helpless sister. What Phobos didn't know was that the Alchemist only needed one more Heart to complete her plans. Seven Hearts with the awesome magical power of the Seven Points. It was the most potent magical combination there was, and Phobos would be too greedy to honor his part of the contract.

"Davira," said Phobos, "your task was simple. You were to secure the Heart of Kandrakar, and failing that, the Heart of Earth. How hard can it be with my power fueling your efforts?"

"My Prince," she simpered, "I sought the Heart of the Earth first. The girl had bequeathed the power to three regents, all of whom knew the awesome power they wielded. As for the Heart of Kandrakar, all five guardians were there, and the Earth police proved to be competent warriors. I was overwhelmed, but the Heart of Kandrakar is on Metamoor. It was the best I could do under the circumstances. Only one other guardian is with the girl." She shot a sidelong glance at the Alchemist. "Her mother is here too." This statement had an effect on the Alchemist. Still, she recovered from the information.

Phobos smiled and looked up at his sister, who looked forlornly at the Alchemist. Phobos looked back down at Davira. "It seems you have the foresight to ensure that your failures can be corrected." Phobos stood and walked down the stairs from the throne. "Alchemist, Davira, come with me."

He walked down and down. Out of the throne room and into the corridors leading into the kitchens, down into the cellar, and down into the dungeon, and down into the Abyss of Shadows, where Phobos' Whisperers waited. "My servants always prove to be such disappointments. Perhaps it is me. Perhaps I place too much confidence in them. Davira was once a ruler, who has lowered herself to my servant. Such a sacrifice will not go unrewarded. The Alchemist is my equal. She has proven it, and she possesses the power to maintain it. What I need are henchmen I can rely on, that you can use, Davira, to help fulfill that which I mandate."

Two Whisperers appeared from the Abyss of Shadows, carrying between them a wretched young boy. "Davira, the guards found this whelp stealing from the castle food stores. I had ordered him placed in the dungeons for a year, but that is such a wasteful solution. I think he would serve you much better. You see, I have the power to not only take over his mind, but to replace it completely." Phobos extended his staff containing the power of the three Hearts, and energy fired from it into the young boy. Armor appeared from the aether and attached itself to the boy. He was growing inordinately, and soon, his chest was a muscular mass of spiked steel. His arms as large as the Alchemist and the top of his head was covered with a helmet in the shape of a torpedo. "Indestructible, living only for devastation, I name you Juggernaut! You shall be the Bane of Earth!"

It stood nearly nine feet tall. It was metal and rock. Red eyes glowed beneath the stone helmet. Davira shuddered. The Alchemist stood motionless, so disinterested, she might have even yawned. Phobos pointed to one of his Whisperers. "Take life, become life, and be the Bane of Life!" The Whisperer seemed to become an ethereal being, like electricity arcing in on itself. "You can come to and fro, unheard, unseen, and you feed upon life, you are Wisp!" This time, the Alchemist really did yawn. Davira knew her to be as powerful as Phobos, but to be so callous defied reason. Surely Phobos was powerful enough to punish such insolence, but if Phobos cared, he didn't show it. He seemed as indifferent to the Alchemist as she was to Phobos' creations.

Phobos said, "Now go! Find the Guardians. Kill the one that commands the earth but bring the Keeper of the Heart to me, alive."

Davira looked back to see the Alchemist's reaction, only to find that she had gone! Phobos smiled. The Alchemist's departure was only to be expected, and Davira's reaction was amusing. "Follow if you wish, Davira. You may find what you see to be of great interest."

Beneath Metamoor, in the Infinite City...

Will, Cornelia, Orube, Susan, and Dean trudged through putrefying water that was ankle deep. Ancient brickwork crumbled around them and air plants and tree roots hung from the ceiling. There were grates along the wall at knee level. Orube had found the entrance to the Infinite City an hour earlier. Cornelia had protested, repulsed by the smell, but as long as Phobos ruled the world above, Will reasoned that the sooner they were out of sight, the better.

"It smells like a sewer," said Cornelia, making a gagging expression.

Will said, "Cornelia, I think this is a sewer."

Dean said, "Well, we are certainly broadening our horizons. You know, an experience like this really helps you relate to what people throughout history have gone through. Just imagine the Jews hiding out in the sewers of the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation."

Cornelia said, "Professor Collins, I don't have to imagine it. I think I'm living it."

"My point exactly. I'm sure they complained about it too, but it was necessary to their survival, and it affected the course of history."

With each step, Cornelia's complaints grew more pronounced. The current in the water suggested a slope ahead, and when they came to it, Cornelia lost her footing, and slid down like in a water slide. As everyone else, carefully edged their way down, part sliding, Cornelia stood, covered in the horrid sludge and retched. "This sweater is Givenchy! It's ruined! The pants were Rachel Roy. The shoes were Gucci."

Will said, "I would comfort you, but I'm not hugging you while you're covered in that stuff."

When they came to an intersection, they decided to change direction. Making a right, they found their way to a place that silenced any further complaint from Cornelia. She said, "You know, it's stuff like this that puts a ruined shirt into perspective."

They had happened upon a village that had been settled on a large platform in a reservoir chamber of the sewer. The chamber was vast. They could scarcely see the other side. There were several hundred villagers living in homes so small they were little more than containers. Children played on the narrow paths that connected the platform to another platform on the other side of the chamber. There were more villagers there. There was a mill collecting water and people trying to purify the sludge.

"Don't take another step or you'll fall in," someone shouted.

Will looked down, but the water was so murky, there was no to tell deep from shallow. Will edged her way to the platform and felt her foot hover over abyss as it slipped over the falloff. She kept her balance, and putting her foot back on a stable surface, she keep moving and told everyone to follow her and stay to the right. As they made it to the platform, several women came to tend to Cornelia.

"We have to get you fresh clothes fast," one said.

Will said, "Don't you worry about the children?"

"Every moment," said another.

Susan looked as if she might cry. "Why are these people here?"

Will said, "There's no place on the surface for them. These are people who have angered Phobos. Most of them don't even know what they've done to upset him. If he caught them, he'd throw them in his prison, where the conditions are even worse than this, and most of them would starve to death, or would be fed to some of the more vicious animals that Phobos keeps." Will turned to the man who warned them away. "Why live here? Why not stay in the Infinite City?"

The man bowed and said, "Begging your pardon, exalted Guardian, but Phobos remembers a rebellion against him based in the Infinite City. He has released guards and other creatures to patrol the Infinite City. There is no place for us."

"But there's no known end to the Infinite City. He can't really cover the whole area, can he?"

"We search, even now, but so far have found no place that his guards do not watch." He stood and led them into the town. "Come, you must all be hungry and tired."

After they had eaten, Will explained as much of Metamoor and the people of Meridian as she could to her family. She and Cornelia told them about Elyon's royal origins, and about how Mrs. Rudolph had brought her to safety on Earth all the way from Metamoor. Elyon was the last of her kind and the rightful ruler of Meridian.

Dean said, "Wait a minute, our Mrs. Rudolph was from here?"

Cornelia said, "Her real name is Galgheita. She had to change her appearance to hide on Earth."

"Change her appearance?"

"She's the nicest lizard person we've ever known."

Will said, "Cornelia, that's not nice."

"But it's true. She's a reptile and she's a totally awesome teacher."

Dean shook his head and put his fingertips to his temples. "I'm going to have to wrap my mind around all of this."

Susan said, "Will, please tell me about you. What is all of this, and what do you have to do with anything?"

Will closed her eyes and said, "I'll start at the beginning."

Long ago, when the world was young, man was new, and the face of the Earth was different, dragons ruled the sky. There were no rivers; just the great Eastern Sea. There was the Red Dragon, the Yellow Dragon, the Black Dragon, and the Pearl Dragon. One day, they heard a plea for help. There was a great drought and the people could not grow food. Soon they would starve. The Jade Emperor had the power to help them, but he would do nothing. The Yellow Dragon, who loved earth, told the other dragons what he had seen. They wept for the people and begged the Jade Emperor to help them. The Emperor did not welcome them, demanding to know why they had left the clouds.

The Dragons made their plea and the Jade Emperor told them that he would see to it and that they were not to bother him again. Ten days passed after the Emperor's promise, and for ten days, it did not rain. The dragons decided to take matters into their own hands. With the sea, they had all the water they could want. So the four dragons scooped the water into their mouth and sprayed it into the sky so that it would turn to rain and water their crops. Hundreds and hundreds of times the dragons sprayed the water into the sky and so they ended the drought.

But the Jade Emperor was not pleased. He had them arrested and brought before them. Brought before the Emperor in chains, he prepared a terrible punishment for them. They plead that they only did what was right, but the Emperor had no pity for them. He ordered the mountain spirit to lock them away so that they may never escape. But the Emperor's daughter, the nymph Xin Jing was very angry with the emperor. "Your cruelty is equaled only by your arrogance," she said, and she cast her most powerful spell. She bound herself to the dragons and absorbed their essence into her. The four dragons turned into four rivers, and all that was left of Xin Jing was a crystal amulet.

Will held out the Heart of Kandrakar and said, "And here she is. The Heart of Kandrakar chose me as its Keeper."

Susan laughed uneasily. Dean said, "But that's an old Chinese legend. It can't be true."

Cornelia said, "Every word of it."

Will said, "Even Phobos wouldn't challenge it."

Sarina said, "So then, you..."

"Our job was to keep Phobos' evil contained. He had intended to take over the universe. But Elyon was our friend, so we fought him and imprisoned him. It was the only way to save her from him. When Phobos was defeated, Kandrakar lifted the Veil that separated Metamoor from Earth."

Susan said, "So...have there been people...attacking Earth?"

Will nodded, "Our first year in Heatherfield was the worse. Phobos was trying to drain the power from his sister and he knew we were her friends so he worked double time to get rid of us."

Susan looked as if she suddenly understood everything. "That explains everything. All of the strange behavior, the sneaking out..."

"It hasn't been easy for me either. I've gotten into a lot of trouble over this."

"It explains your grades. God, you must be exhausted half the time."

Cornelia said, "At least we get our exercise."

A roar echoed through the tunnels and all eyes turned to the north. Will, Cornelia, and Orube stood. Will said, "Orube, do you still have your powers?"

Orube's said, "No warrior would enter the field of battle unarmed."

Cornelia said, "I assume we're not hiding anymore?"

Will gripped the Heart of Kandrakar in her palm and said, "Guardians unite." Her family saw the transformation. It was as impressive as always, except now that Will and Cornelia were older, the physical change wasn't as pronounced, but they were still clearly older. Orube was the only one who did not change. Even during her brief time as a Guardian, she did not change then. Still, even without wings, she could fly. Will turned to her mother and said, "Stay here." Without waiting for a response, she, Cornelia, Orube flew in the direction of the roar.

At an entrance to the Infinite City, they met a Titan. The creature was rock and metal and easily towered at nine feet tall. There was also some kind of electrical creature that flitted around the cavern. There was Davira, grinning sadistically. "Girls, meet Juggernaut and Wisp. They're going to kill you."


	4. Evidence

Hay Lin listened to the sounds of the gentle rain upon the grass field of the city park, and she heard the distant sounds of people through the centuries; a man proposing to a woman on another rainy day so many years, a homeless man living his life trying to stay dry on days like this, a man who felt lost and alone after the death of his wife, this park having been her favorite place. All these things Hay Lin heard as the rain splashed against the pavement, for the power of the wind gave her the power to hear all of the secrets hidden in things whenever they made a sound.

From the fountain, she heard the sounds of children playing, oblivious to the rain that threatened to cause cold. They danced on the edge of the fountain, chased each other around it. Everything Hay Lin heard happened some time ago, perhaps even years ago, but she heard it as if it was happening now. Now, as Hay Lin walked to the edge of the park, the sound of footfall could be heard upon the pavement leading into the police and heard a cacophony through the years. It would be tough to filter through.

She had to learn to ignore the sounds of the many convicts, robbers, shoplifters, peace disturbers, the rightly and wrongly accused, and the police, both good and corrupt. For a fleeting moment, she heard Taranee's outrage at her unjust arrest. She heard Mr. Lair standing on the steps and taking his oath when he was first accepted into the force. Then, she heard what she was hoping to hear.

"Jorge, seriously, man, all I remember was an explosion." That was the voice of Detective Stevens, and it wasn't in the past. It was happening now, and his voice brought another explosion of memories that Hay Lin sifted through and ultimately dismissed.

"Good, one," said Alvarez. "An explosion, a gas explosion, and half the people in the room disappear without a trace. I smell BS. We're going to see how this went down."

With that, Hay Lin turned invisible and followed the two detectives into the station. If you've ever been invisible, then you know that walking around a crowded room is a bit like a game of Operation. The game requires one to remove game pieces from the game board, a cartoon man with red nose. You must do this without touching the edges of the hole the piece is in, otherwise, you risk lighting up the nose, waking up the patient. Hay Lin was following detectives Stevens and Alvarez trying to avoid brushing up against anyone else. It could lead to some uncomfortable questions, or possibly a panic. She thought she had been made when she accidently bumped into a handcuffed man. He made a commotion, but fortunately, the police thought he was simply acting up.

"I'm telling you guys, this place is haunted. You can't keep me here!" he shouted.

"Quit your whining, Moose," said one of the officers leading him off. "We'll put you in a nice, ghost free room."

Hay Lin managed to slip into an office behind Alvarez and Stevens. Alvarez pulled out an SD card and inserted it into a computer tower. "Alright, now let's see what really happened." He plugged in what looked like a tape recorder, but there was no compartment for a cassette. "Make an external file for the records." He clicked on a program that Hay Lin couldn't identify, "And copy file to the hard drive. Let's see what we've got."

The file played. It was clear from the screen that the camera was under Alvarez's collar. There was a clear shot of everyone's face each time Alvarez greeted someone. After that, the camera rarely left Will or the rest of them. When Davira confessed her role in Will's disappearance and attacked, the screen went blue with an error message that said "File Corrupted."

Hay Lin breathed a sigh of relief. All of the magic flying around the room must have interfered with the device. The video did cause another problem, though. It was clear that the physical evidence supported Alvarez's version of events...and Alvarez remembered everything, which meant, sooner or later, Jorge Alvarez was going to want to speak with Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee, and probably sooner than later. The last thing the Guardians needed was another government investigation digging into their lives.

"Why do we always have to do this?" said Irma, later that day at Golden's. "Is it so much to ask that we can be the saviors of the universe and just keep everyone at home blissfully unaware?"

"He that knows nothing learns all too easily," said Hay Lin.

"So sayeth, Hay Lin, the Amazing Human Fortune Cookie."

Taranee stirred her shake thoughtfully. It obviously hadn't occurred to Irma that Alvarez not only witnessed their pitched battle with Davira, but also saw all five girls using their powers to resist Davira. The only thing they had going for them was the fact that Davira obviously started it. "Hay Lin's right. To humans, magic isn't real. People here know nothing about it. If they see something they can't deny, or explain, they're going to notice."

Irma said, "So? Alvarez is the only one who remembers. We can convince him he's overreacting."

"Except," said Hay Lin, "you already tried to wipe the incident from their memories, and you succeeded with Stevens. Stevens only remembers a gas explosion, and the video shows much more. So Stevens knows that his memory is faulty and that Alvarez has clearer perception. Plus, you told Stevens exactly what he remembered. Alvarez knows we're lying."

There was a soft thud as Irma's forehead hit the tabletop. "Why can't anything ever be easy?"

Taranee said, "Irma, we have to deal with this."

"Don't you get it? This is my last year at Sheffield. You're the only one that has another year ahead of her. Hay Lin, Will, Cornelia and," Irma indicated herself with a flourish; "yours truly start college in four months. We don't need this. We are constantly exhausted. We are constantly ducking our families, or Interpol, or British Intelligence, or the CIA. You know what I think? Will's mom knows about us now. She has to. This would be a whole lot easier if W. I. T. C. H. came out of the broom closet, once and for all."

"The Oracle would never let that happen."

Hay Lin said, "Maybe it's us. Maybe we just don't hide as well as the past Guardians."

"I'll tell you what it is. You can't fart in public without it being caught on camera. YouTube, LiveWire, DailyMotion, and enemies crawling out of the woodwork, now attacking us in front of Heatherfield's finest. It's an impossible combination. There's no way to hide in this environment. So my suggestion is that we give up trying." Irma crossed her arms and sat back. "It'll make life a whole lot less complicated."

Taranee said, "And suppose someone decides to capture and study us?"

"Ha! I'd like to see them try! Besides, we're the good guys. If we came out and someone pulled a stunt like that, what do you think would happen? We're superheroes! Save a falling plane and some babies from some burning buildings, anybody would have to be nuts to touch us. You know, do the whole Superman routine."

Hay Lin said, "You know, Taranee, Irma may have a point. Everyone's always had the courtesy to attack out of sight before. What if our enemies are starting to realize that that's our weakness? Irma's idea may be our only way to get rid of that weakness."

Irma said, "It was just a thought. I mean, we can't just come out and say and demonstrate a few tricks. What would people think?"

Taranee said, "Don't you guys realize? There's a reason we're a secret. If everyone on Earth learns about Kandrakar and the Infinite Realms, that is something that will definitely upset the balance they are trying to observe, especially once they have absolute confirmation that it is possible to travel between worlds and alternate realities."

"Okay, but I don't know how long we can keep it up. I'm telling you, the time is coming when we are going to be on the front page of Newsweek, wings and all, whether we want to be or not, and you know Cornelia will have a fit when she sees those blurry pictures they take of her trying to prove she's not a UFO. Any picture that makes her look bad is unacceptable."

"Maybe you're right, but I still don't think we should just come out and reveal ourselves."

"Nah. Let's wait 'til we're evacuating an earthquake zone."

While three Guardians are telling jokes over milkshakes, an entire city watches the situation unfold, its mood grave. In the center of the universe, in a place where there is no time, a fortress that both exists and doesn't exist houses a council that is bound not to act, even when the universe is in its greatest peril.

Here, the Oracle watches events unfold. He sees three Guardians losing faith in their abilities. Perhaps Irma is right, or perhaps she is wrong. The situation would be dealt with if it arose. What concerned the Oracle more deeply, was the Keeper of the Heart. She faced a task that could destroy the mightiest of warriors. Juggernaut was the least of her concerns. In her future was sorrow and suffering unlike any she had ever known. For she did not realized that the Heart of Kandrakar and the Star of Cassidy were no longer one, thus she could not know what that portended, and she could not foresee the crushing sorrow that awaited her. What awaited her was knowledge of such a nature that knowing could destroy her, and through her, the Guardians. It is true, the Oracle could help her, but now he wept, for it was not his place to do so, and it seemed impossible for any to overcome what she now rushed to meet.

For now, Will believed her greatest concerns were the Juggernaut and Wisp. It became immediately apparent that the combined powers of Will, Cornelia, and Orube were useless against the Juggernaut or Wisp. Juggernaut ripped apart the sewer walls, coming ever closer to the hidden village. Men had come to help, but Will warned them off.

"Will, he's just shrugging off our attacks," said Cornelia. She leapt out of the way of a flying boulder just in time.

Orube jumped from the ceiling and struck the monster with her sword. "Worse, he seems to be feeding on our attacks."

Will has having no better luck with Wisp. She had been struck twice by his electrical blasts, nearly paralyzing her with pain. Wisp, on the other hand, seemed to like it when Will's blasts hit him. Now, Cornelia pushed Will out of the way just in time to save her from another electrical blast. Seeing Juggernaut bearing down on them, she fired a charge into him, and briefly connected to the creature. Will was mortified by what she saw.

"Cornelia, Orube, we have to be careful not to kill Juggernaut. There's a child imprisoned inside him."

Cornelia gasped in horror, then she used all of her might to trap the creature in tree roots, stone, whatever she could think of to imprison it so they could think of a way to free it from Phobos' spell. Cornelia was startled to see that the creature was absorbing everything she threw at him.

"Will!" said Cornelia, "He's like Anteaus, the Greek legend of the son of Poseidon and Gaea. Gaea was Mother Earth. As long as Anteaus was in touch with the ground, he couldn't be defeated, but Hercules held him above the ground and he disintegrated."

Will said, "Oh, well. If anyone here can lift half a ton and put him in the air, we should be fine."

"If Cornelia is right, his weakness is air. We could use Hay Lin, but perhaps there is a way without her," said Orube. She rolled between Juggernaut's legs and fired one of her disintegrating blasts into his leg, destroying it. It merely grew back. "Cornelia can use her power over the vines to catapult the monster into the air. Will and I can then attack it and free the prisoner within."

"Worth a shot," said Cornelia. "What about Wisp?"

Will said, "It's just one of Phobos' Whisperers. There's nothing we do can help it. It'll just return to the Abyss of shadows" and speaking of Wisp, it attacked while everyone was distracted with Juggernaut.

Cornelia's efforts to expose the tunnel to open air exposed a spring, causing a waterfall to cascade into the sewer sludge. Will threw Wisp into the waterfall, and the combination of bioelectric energy and water was enough to short Wisp out. It reverted to a Whisperer, alive, but no longer Wisp. Falling rock caused a seesaw beneath Juggernaut's feet and as the roof gave way to sky, Juggernaut was hurled high into the air. Will used all of the power at her disposal to tear away the metal and the rock from the innocent inside. The child, free of Juggernaut, gently landed at her feet unharmed, but unconscious.

"Oh, come on," said Will, "that can't have been Phobos' worse."

Davira emerged with a shriek. "Now that the servants of Phobos are no more, I can redeem myself by capturing you." Davira then fell unconscious when Orube karate chopped her in the back of the neck.

"Wow," said Cornelia, "they just don't make bad guys like they used to."

Will said, "The Juggernaut and Wisp could have been nasty customers if their weaknesses hadn't been so obvious."

"That's because Phobos lacks imagination," said a voice from the darkness. "When Nerissa made her Knights of Vengeance, she made sure their weaknesses weren't also their Achilles Heels." With bright light above their heads, the darkness of the sewer was darker still, and that much harder to see, but the owner of the mysterious, and unsettlingly familiar voice emerged, not that it made a difference. She wore robes of white and red, with a hood and a mask, like one might see a ninja wear, a cowl.

"Who are you?" asked Will. "What do you want from us?"

"You can call me the Alchemist. As for what I want; I don't want anything from you. I just wanted to see how you dealt with Phobos' creations."

"Are you a friend of Phobos?" asked Cornelia.

"I wouldn't go that far. You might call us business associates. I've agreed to help him acquire more power than he knows what to do with, so long as I get equal shares."

Orube stepped forward. "So you're helping him." Her stance was menacing, but there was something abortive about it. Something about the Alchemist was giving her second thoughts.

"No, I'm not helping him. He's helping me. He only thinks I'm helping him."

Will said, "What do mean by that?"

"Come on, Will. We all figured out a long time ago that Phobos has a big problem abiding by the terms of a contract." The Alchemist tilted her head. "By the way, you'll never get back to Earth unless you rescue Elyon. I guarantee that." With that, the Alchemist vanished, transpositioning herself to who knew where.

The Whisperer and Davira vanished. Cornelia cursed, realizing that the Alchemist was distracting them while the Whisperer and Davira could slip away unseen. That Orube was duped as well was alarming. Will carried the boy with her as they made their way back to the village. Cornelia and Orube were walking ahead. Orube was saying something that Will couldn't hear. Cornelia looked back at Will in alarm and said, "Really? Are you sure?"

Orube said, "My nose doesn't lie. I know what I smelled, and I know what I heard when she spoke."

Cornelia said, "Could it be an astral drop?"

"What?" said Will. "Could what be an astral drop?" Orube and Cornelia let her catch up.

Cornelia said, "Will, Orube and I think that the Alchemist might be…umm…mimicking you."

Orube gave Cornelia a sharp look but said nothing.

"Mimicking me?" asked Will.

"You know, to create confusion and maybe she's thinking of becoming an imposter. She obviously knows about Orube's senses."

Orube said, "She sounds and smells like Will. That would be very difficult to fake, though not impossible, and if she has scientific talents to match her name, she just might be capable of it." Orube didn't sound sure of anything she said, and Will suspected that it was Cornelia that had come up with this imposter theory. Orube very obviously had something else in mind. "Best to solve this riddle later."

For the first time since her reappearance with her injuries and her missing memories, Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar and examined it, really examined it. The Star of Cassidy was more than just a copy of the Heart of Kandrakar; it was an element of that part of the Heart that the Keeper would always keep in her heart. Yet, when it joined with the Heart of Kandrakar, the Heart should have been whole again. The Star of Cassidy wasn't an additional heart, after all. It was merely that part of the Heart that remained with Cassidy, fused with the part that remained with Will.

Now, Will could see something that wasn't there before; evidence of a crack that had been healed in the crystal. For years, now, the existence of Kandrakar had made Will consider the true nature of things. Now she could see that while there was one Heart of Kandrakar, there were many Keepers throughout history. The Star of Cassidy was gone. Will got a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. Why would the Alchemist be so much like her? Why was she so worried about it? Then it occurred to her, the appearance of the Alchemist had unlocked something. There had been a flash of memory. For a moment, it seemed that she could reach out and reclaim her two missing months. Still, why was she concerned about the Heart of Kandrakar? Why would the Alchemist be related?

It had been what Cornelia and Orube had said, and Will felt like less of a person. She felt the way her astral drop must have felt. That was why. Then she remembered something, and she pushed the memory as far away as she could. She didn't want to remember that. What she remembered frightened her.

Back in the village, people came to take the child and care for it. Will went and found her mother and Dean. They had found another man, frightening in appearance, but Will knew him to be a great warrior and a gentle giant. Will couldn't help herself, and she rushed, leapt and threw her arms around his neck. "Vathek!"

"Will," he shouted, "it is so good to see you after all of this time!"

Will let go, dropping to the ground. "I see you've met my mom."

"I arrived just as Phobos' minions attacked. I was told that your family had accompanied and I thought it would be a fine thing if they were left unguarded during an attack so I came to protect them, just in case!"

Will said, "Tell me, the rest of resistance; are they organizing again?"

Vathek shook his head sadly. "Phobos took no chances this time. He rounded them up before we even realized that he had returned. I was the only one that escaped. It is only sheer fortune that Caleb was able to escape to Earth with you and the other Guardians when it happened. Where is he now?"

"Still on Earth. So are three of the Guardians. Cornelia and I are stuck here with Orube, my mom and Professor Collins."

"Will," said Susan, nervously, "I don't suppose you're going to introduce us to the…gentleman?"

"Oh, sorry. Mom, this is Vathek. He helped us defeat Phobos the first time. Vathek, this is my mom, Susan…"

"I can see that Will's charm runs in the family, Susan," said Vathek.

"…and her fiancé, Dean Collins." Now Will turned to Vathek in earnest and said, "I need a safe place for them."

Vathek bowed his head, regret etched upon his face. "I'm sure you've been told, but there is no safe place. There are only places where they might be hidden for a while, but Phobos is rooting out all of our bolt holes. What do you plan to do?"

"We need to free Queen Elyon."

"Phobos possesses her, the Crown of Light, and the Heart of Meridian. Any battle with him would be hopeless. If we had the greatest army ever assembled, we would never be able to stand against him."

"Then we'll have to do it quietly."

Vathek looked nervous. "I do not recall you haven't much talent for being quiet."

Susan snorted and Dean said, "Certainly not in my class."

"Fine," said Cornelia, "we'll do you one better." With this statement, she vanished. "We can turn invisible."

Will smiled triumphantly.

Vathek said, "That would certainly help. What about you, Orube, can you turn invisible?"

"Of course, but as a seasoned and skilled hunter, I have no need for such tricks. These two, however can use all of the help they can get."

Cornelia reappeared in a blink, her face so red, everyone expected to see steam come off the top of her head. Both she and Will said, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Alright, smarty-pants," said Will, "if you're so great, you can take point!"

Orube said, "Excellent! I was wondering when you'd make a sensible decision."

Cornelia stomped her foot and said, "Oh, go play with your catnip!"

Orube's eyes widened and she said, "I would never touch a mind-altering substance, no matter how intoxicating! A hunter must have all of her senses about her!"

Arrangements were made to leave at nightfall. For much of the day, Will sat alone with her mother. She had reverted to her human form. They didn't talk for a long time, and Susan finally said, "Will, what's wrong? You're not usually this quiet."

Will turned away, not wanting her mother to see her crying. "Everything's going to change, now. I can't stop being what I am and now I'm someone you don't know."

Susan put her arms around her daughter and drew her close, and Will began crying in earnest. Susan said, "No, honey. You're always going to be my daughter. I'll be honest; I don't like this one bit. I feel powerless, helpless, like I can't protect you, but Will, I'm proud of you. I'm very proud of you."

Will said, "No, I'm not the person you think I am."

"Will, I've seen a brave, courageous girl that I couldn't be more proud to know."

Will said nothing. Her mother couldn't possibly know that she was thinking of one tiny memory that, though small, would haunt her for the rest of her life, however long that might be. For a time though, she savored this moment, and her mother had managed to give her some comfort. She didn't want to let go of this moment that she now knew didn't belong to her. "I love you, mom."

That night, Phobos' palace shined black as it once did. The wall of black roses had been put back, though it was nowhere near as thick as it was before. Still, the Guardians took no chances. They made their way in through the sewers into the dungeons, as they always had before. It was eerily silent in here. Nothing came out to greet Will, Cornelia, or Orube, though Orube assured them that there were people, armed to the teeth, behind every door. Invisibility had its perks, but Will as almost certain that that wasn't why they had met no resistance. She could feel it. They knew they were there, but for some reason or another, had orders to watch but not interfere.

In the courtyard, the soldiers that had been frozen by Davira's curse now adorned the flora and fauna as macabre statuary. They walked down the middle of the courtyard, still relying on their invisibility, even though all three were now certain their every move was known. When they entered the throne room, Phobos, the Alchemist, and Davira stood, all looking directly at them. Will, Cornelia, and Orube dropped all pretenses and revealed themselves.

Phobos smiled, "In your defense, it was a very good trick, but sadly, I've encountered it far too often to fall for it now. I suppose you've come to challenge me."

Will said, "We wouldn't stand a chance. We've only come for Elyon."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that. You see, she has power in addition to the Heart of Meridian."

"I thought she was the Heart of Meridian."

"Oh, she is. But you see, her power has been imprisoned in the Crown of Light, which is now merged with the Heart of Ulnra. Still, she has power of her own, and that additional power is bolstering what I have."

"And of course, the Alchemist led us into a trap."

"No," said the Alchemist, "I like to experiment. I wanted to see what would happen." "I like to experiment." It was a sentence that struck Will like blows to the head. It sounded like her. It sounded like something her father had said about her.

Phobos said, "In any case, I wanted you to see my final triumph. The Alchemist and I have each collected three hearts. Davira has collected a seventh. While the Alchemist distracted you, Davira used Orube's energy to find her home of Basiliade."

"What?" said Orube, stalked forward. Will and Cornelia held her back.

"Don't worry," said Davira. "I killed them with kindness. They didn't suspect what I had done until after I had left. I'd have been a fool to attack that vicious bunch. Now, my master, I present this jewel to you."

"Why not keep it?" asked Will.

Phobos said, "Because Davira has already had a very bad experience possessing such power and has no wish to do so again." Phobos took the jewel, and removed a pendant that he was wearing. The jewel vanished, absorbed by the triple heart he wore. "Go on Alchemist. Remove your cowl and show them who you are."

The Alchemist did as she was told, and Will found herself facing her worst fear. She found that from beneath the cowl, Will Vandom stared back at her. Could it have been another astral drop? The Alchemist seemed to read her mind. "We can only make one astral drop, but I needed you badly enough that the Heart of Kandrakar found another solution. Imagine my surprise when I found I still possessed the Heart of Kandrakar and felt it leaving with you. I knew that I must have still possessed the Star of Cassidy."

Phobos laughed. "It replicated Will Vandom. It made a living altamere that can't be controlled, can't be taken back, can't be changed by outside magic. What a shock, and now we will both possess the Heart of Kandrakar."

The Alchemist turned to Phobos and said, "I beg your pardon? We had a deal."

"Let's just say that I'm renegotiating the terms." The Alchemist pulled a pendant from her shirt. It was the Star of Cassidy, but it radiated with the power of two more Hearts.

What was happening had to be stopped. Davira seemed to realize what was happening too, because she lunged in an attempt to prevent Phobos from taking the Alchemist's pendant. Will lunged too, but Orube and Cornelia pulled her back just in time. Davira was too far away, and didn't make it in time to stop what happened. Phobos now possessed all seven Hearts.

Davira shouted, "My Lord, no! She made you swear on those very Hearts that you wouldn't betray her!"

The Alchemist was on the floor, blood trickling from the top of her head. She looked at Phobos with a look of triumph. "It's too late, Davira. He's been as good as his word, which is exactly what I was hoping for."

Phobos laughed. "I don't know what you think you've accomplished, but now it is time for me to destroy the Keeper of the Heart once and for all." He pointed at the Will that Cornelia and Orube were trying to defend. Phobos' mouth fell open, making him look a bit dumb. "Nothing's happening."

The Alchemist stood and said, "That's because I'm the Keeper of the Seventh Heart."

"The Seventh Heart?"

"Meditate on it while you're trapped inside the Heart. You'll have plenty of time for it."

Phobos vanished, and a sleek rod appeared in the Alchemist's hand. The staff was a perfectly straight shaft of wood, lacquered white. A pendant was contained in a perfect spiral cylinder of wood at the top. It was as long as the Alchemist's forearm, from elbow to fingertip, the correct length for a magic wand. Strangely, Cornelia's only thought was how jealous Lillian would be if she saw it.

Davira screamed in rage.

The Alchemist said, "You are a stickler for the law, Davira. That's why you thought Phobos was so virtuous. He was a despot like you but you never thought he was a liar."

Davira saw the truth of it. Her rage vacated her in a deluge and she fell into tears.

"Now what?" said Will. So much power was not a good thing, but this Alchemist was Will, and Will refused to believe that she could turn evil just like that.

The Alchemist raised an eyebrow. "The Heart of any world merely gives you the power to affect nature. You can restore life, tear down buildings and regrow forests, but you can't change nature. While I was here, I realized that the true nature of the universe was suffering. It was the one constant. Even in happiness, somehow, some pain or misery is affecting us. In many cases, we can't know happiness unless we are in pain. I suffered, and the pain was unlike any that you knew. I made sure of that. As much as I wanted to change the universe, I needed someone who would protect the heart. That's why I created you. Once I've reshaped the universe, it will need its Guardians."

"Reshaped the universe?" said Cornelia.

Will shook her head. "Don't bother trying to make sense of it, Cornelia. She's lost, just like Nerissa."

"Will, this is you!"

"No, I'd never talk like this. This is the mess that was left over from what Phobos did."

The Alchemist remained calm as she said, "Idealistic, as always. You know nothing of what Phobos did to me. I made sure of that."

"Then at least you had enough sense left to make a version of you that was still sane."

"Still sane?"

"A Heart to remake the universe? There's only one word to describe a person that thinks she's a god!"

Cornelia said, "Actually, there's several. Nuts, bonkers, lunatic, nutcase, crazy, insane, Fruit Loops, loopy, loony…"

The Alchemist smiled, but there was no humor in her eyes, only fury. "That's something Irma might say. Making up for her absence, Corny?" The look did not suit Will, and she could not remember ever looking like that. "Just wait until I've started."

Will said, "What am I, anyway? I can't be an astral drop. What did you create?"

"You were born an altamere, a perfect doppleganger. That's why you have powers. That's why you can hold the Heart of Kandrakar."

"I suppose you'll want that. Well you can't have it."

"Oh, don't worry. Even merging with the Star of Cassidy, it'll still bring me up to eight, and that would ruin the combination."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to threaten your godhood."

"You, of all people, you…How can you not understand what I'm trying to do? I just want the people I love to be safe, once and for all." The Alchemist raised her hand to Elyon's suspended cage and it lowered gently to the ground. "Take Elyon. It'd be a shame if you wasted a trip here. The way between worlds is open once again. Take our family back to Earth." The Alchemist threw her hand out, and Will found herself in Mrs. Rudolph's old house, with Cornelia, Orube, her mother, Professor Dean and Elyon. The guardians were back in human form, and Orube was dressed as Rebecca.

"We're back on Earth?" said Cornelia. She scanned the room and shouted, "Elyon!" She ran to her friend and put her in a more comfortable position.

Susan said, "You did it!"

Will, staring blankly at something only she could see, said, "Yes, I did it." She couldn't contain her emotions any longer. Running upstairs, she found a bedroom and locked herself in.


	5. Flesh and Blood

From the Hidden City of Kandrakar, the Oracle looks down into the water of time, and he sees a young girl hiding in a corner, locked in a bedroom. She has wrapped her arms around her knees and lays in a fetal position. She has wept so much, she can weep no more. He wishes to comfort her, but he cannot. This battle she must fight alone. Not even her closest friends and allies can help her try though they might; not unless she lets them. Decisions are made alone, and the only one who can change a decision is the one who made it.

Now, five of her friends, her mother, her history teacher, and her stepmother are terribly worried about her. Indeed, however much they loved her, they could not be as concerned as the Oracle, who can see the fate of the universe situated on a knife's edge.

"So that's what happened, huh?" said Irma. "And Will hasn't come down once?"

Cornelia shook her head sadly.

"Wow," said Taranee, "this is so messed up. So Will's just a copy?"

Cornelia said, "I refuse to believe that. The Alchemist talked like some kind of James Bond villain."

Hay Lin said, "Right, after all. All we really are is who we believe we can be."

Irma said, "Lady Confucius strikes again."

"The problem is, what does Will believe? How's Elyon?"

Cornelia said, "Sleeping. I think she'll be okay. She said that Phobos ignored her. A servant kept her fed. Mostly, he had her on display."

They all took turns over the course of the day trying to coax Will into opening the door. Cornelia, Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee all pleaded and begged with Will. Susan tried, returned to the apartment to assess the damage, and then came back to continue the efforts in extracting Will from the bedroom. Susan offered to cook the girls dinner, but found only junk food. "How do you survive?" After grocery shopping, she cooked a fried chicken dinner for everyone.

"Will." Susan knocked on the door. "I cooked fried chicken. Are you hungry?" There was no answer. "Will, please let us help."

"Mrs. Vandom?" Elyon had appeared out of the room next to the one Will was using. She looked mostly tired, but otherwise fine.

"Oh, Elyon, how are you?"

Elyon smiled and said, "I've been better." Elyon went over and knocked on the door. "Wilhelmina Vandom, lest my memory fails me, you swore an oath to Metamoor and its people. Queen Elyon beckons you. Open this door right now!"

The door handle rattled and the door swung open. Will was standing there, her eyes red from tears, and her hair horrendously tangled. She looked at Elyon, her expression one of misery. "I'm sorry, El—Your Highness."

Elyon ignored her. "What is your name?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm-I'm Will."

"Then what is it that confuses you?"

Will didn't know how to answer that. The answer was so involved it might take hours to explain what she felt.

"Rule of thumb: if you can't answer a question in a single sentence, then you're probably overthinking it."

Will looked down in shame.

"No! You don't have the luxury for shame. You don't have the luxury for self-pity. You hold the Heart of Kandrakar. You are the leader of the Guardians. Your team needs you, but they are more than your team. They are your friends and you need them just as much. Never make the mistake of thinking you can deal with something like this by yourself. Will," she took Will's hand, "I'm not your queen right now. I'm your friend." Elyon pulled Will into a hug. Will started to cry again, and when Elyon released her, she said, "Your mother has something she wants to say to you before you go down to dinner."

Susan said, "And how do you know that?"

Elyon raised her hands melodramatically and put her fingers to her temples. "I am the Light of Meridian! I see with more than just eyes!" Will laughed. Elyon smiled. "Well, it looks we're making progress. She's all yours, Mrs. Vandom, and don't let her forget that she's every bit the Will we've always known. Now, I believe I was enticed with the promise of fried chicken."

Susan laughed and said, "It's on the table. Get some before the rest of the girls beat you to it."

As Elyon walked to the stairs, Susan led Will back into the bedroom. She took note of the untouched bed, still perfectly made, and probably unused for years. "Here, sit down next to me." Susan sat on the bed and patted the section next to her.

She drew Will towards her and held her in her arms. "Will, do you remember when we lived in Fadden Hills? You never had any friends. You never got along with anyone. You told me that you knew what they were thinking. They felt sorry for you because your parents were divorced. Do you remember what I told you?"

Will, her voice unsteady and tearful, "You told me that I was a wonderful person and if they couldn't see that then it was their loss."

"You remember that. I think that only the real Will would have remembered that. That was just between you and me, remember?" Susan kissed Will on top of the head. "I've always believed you were special."

Will sat up and said, "I thought every parent was supposed believe that."

Susan ruffled Will's hair and said, "Absolutely. It's in the rulebook, you know."

"There's a rulebook, huh?"

"Hey, it looks like you're smiling."

Will got up and went with her mother downstairs. As soon as the other Guardians saw her, they ran up to her and tackled her in a group hug. Orube sat at the table with Elyon and Dean, while Susan refereed the girls. "You know, she needs air." As light-hearted as Susan was, she was hiding her own terror. The tale the girls had told her of another Will, a Will who had lost her mind and who had turned to the Dark Side, frightened Susan to her core. Here was one Will in front of her, a good, kind, sensitive person. Was that same darkness lurking inside her, or did this other Will have it cultivated in her by whatever had happened during those two months.

As all of the girls did their best to boost Will's self-esteem, thoughts of darkness flitted through Susan's mind. What was her daughter a part of? It could be described, but there was no way to really understand, and what evil had she been exposed to, day after day, year after year? What else had Susan failed to notice about her daughter? What was this fantastical destiny her daughter had before her and why was it necessary to put her in such danger? Was it necessary that she face such great evil? Why couldn't it be a trained soldier, or a policeman, or any other person more qualified than a group of teenage girls more inclined to talk about boys than the fate of the universe?

Dean noticed her distress and went with her to the living room. He brought her plate and his own and they ate at the coffee table. "Susan?"

"Dean, I'm scared. I mean, I'm really scared. Two months ago, I lost her. I lost her, Dean, she was gone, and now it really looks like there's a part of her that didn't come back. Dean, she's wounded in her very soul. She's a seventeen-year-old girl, and this started when she was thirteen, Dean. Thirteen! She's the only daughter I have. I don't want to lose her again."

Dean looked at his mashed potatoes as if he was trying to discern the meaning of life from them. "Susan, Alexander the Great earned that title when he was fourteen. Did you know that? Hardened soldiers were following a fourteen-year-old man, not child, man into battle. Tutankhamen was the King of Egypt at the age of eight. Cleopatra took Egypt from Julius Caesar's willing hand at the age of twelve. Mozart wrote his first piano concerto when he was five."

"Just fifteen minutes ago, she was up there holed up in a room feeling overwhelmed by everything that had happened."

"And do you think the people I just mentioned didn't?"

"I can't help but notice that everyone you mentioned died before they made it to their thirties. Tut didn't even make it to his twenties. Two of them committed suicide."

"Right; Alexander the Great killed himself at 24 and Cleopatra drank poison rather than be captured by Rome. Mozart's death was the result of poor health."

"And Tut was murdered."

"Right, people like these lead dangerous and stressful lives. Susan, you can't lock her in her room. You can't stop her from experiencing life, the best and the worst. We don't live very long anyway, but it doesn't matter if we hide from the world, because then we don't live at all."

"But she's in so much pain. She still is. She's trying to get over it, but right now, she's just putting on a brave face. I can feel it, I can see it. I can't stand it. How can I just stand by while she's suffering?"

"Don't. Give her the comfort she needs. It's the only salve for her wounds that there is, but Susan, when you live a life of grand experience, the feelings are stronger. The joy is higher, and the pain is more acute. Stop and think about this, though. Aren't you proud of her? She faces this danger in spite of her own fears and her own uncertainties, and she saves the lives of innocent people. Didn't you feel like you had the best daughter in the world when she and Cornelia and that other girl-what was her name? Orube?-rescued that child?"

Susan smiled at the thought. He was right.

"And seriously, there has to be some part of you thinks this is pretty cool. Your daughter is a superhero."

At this, Susan laughed. She leaned over and kissed Dean. "You know, I was worried about how I was going to help Will, and I turned out needing help myself."

Dean nodded, "I know, but you can't worry about her. All that it will do is make you a nervous wreck. All you can do is be there when she needs you. I'll be there, too, okay?"

At the table, Hay Lin held chicken drumsticks up to her ears. Cornelia and Irma sat on either side of Will and put an arm around her shoulders. Elyon, Taranee, and Orube sat together on the other side of the table, each of them observing Will, closely.

"You really had us scared," said Taranee. "Will, there is nothing you can't talk us about."

Will looked down. "Am I 'Will'?"

"You stop that, now!" said Hay Lin. "If what Cornelia says is true, that other girl took a new name. You're Will and you're the only Will we need. Did you feel like someone else before?"

Will thought about that. "No."

"So why should you feel like that now?"

Elyon said, "Exactly what I tried to tell you."

Will said, "But she created me. Of everything I lost, I remember that!"

Cornelia said, "Will, you said it yourself. What the Alchemist was telling us was something the real Will Vandom would never, ever say. She's the one who isn't who she used to be. If she would have come home instead of you, I would have felt like I lost my friend. You're here, and you are the friend I've always known."

"But what if I really am like her?"

Elyon said, "Oh, trust me, you're not." Everyone looked at her. There was something in her voice that told them that this was more than just encouragement. This was actual insight into the Alchemist. "You can never be like her. She's gone through things you've never experienced. You were never broken by Phobos or his guards. She was."

Irma said, "Okay, when you say 'broken', what you really mean is like when the victim finally gives in."

"Exactly, but the Alchemist had already created a duplicate, not an astral drop. This was different. This was as if, she divided and one became two, but there was a distinct original. The duplicate managed to escape with the Heart of Kandrakar, while the Alchemist waited for her interrogator's to return. She must have known she couldn't hold out, that she was going to give Phobos what he wanted. So when Phobos himself came down, she realized that she had the Star of Cassidy. Feeling that she had failed, she made a deal with him, which you know all about."

All of the girls looked at each other. Strangely, this was restoring Will's confidence. It did nothing to assuage her doubts, but it made her feel as if she could step into the real Will's shoes and finish what she started.

Hay Lin said, "So she's turned totally megalomaniac and is going to destroy the universe. Easy-peasy."

Elyon said, "Just don't be angry with her. She had to make some very hard choices. She knew she was giving up her identity forever when she made her double. She knew she couldn't go back."

"Alright," said Irma, "When we're kicking her butt, we'll say nice things to her."

"No," said Will with such force that everyone, including her mother and Dean, turned to her. "We have to help her."

"What?" asked Cornelia.

"You know who we're fighting. It isn't just what she is, it's what she was. We have to save her."

Orube said, "She's right. The Alchemist's whole speech was about ending suffering. It wouldn't be so important to her if she wasn't already suffering."

Will said, "Imagine if it was one of you. You've been tortured and now you've been forced to give up the life you know. You've seen your entire world turned upside down. You're all alone and you're no longer welcome in a world that you only ever tried to help. And then the people you were closest to come and it's as though there was no history between you. You're just Nerissa all over again. She's hurt, and she's lost, and she's alone. We have to save her."

Irma, looking forlorn, said, "Jeez, when you put it that way…"

Cornelia said, "That's great, but how exactly are we going to save a depressed, abandoned megalomaniac with a talisman so powerful it can reshape the laws of nature?"

Will said, "We certainly can't fight her. What's left?"

Hay Lin said, "When you fight fire with fire, you burn a forest, Cornelia."

Cornelia said, "Why are you telling me? Taranee's the human torch."

"Flame on," Taranee muttered.

Hay Lin said, "Because you are the one who suggests fighting fire with fire. The Alchemist is full of anger if she is ready to destroy the balance, so you suggest an angry response."

"Well, she's so powerful she can zap by accident just because she sneezed, so duh. I don't exactly see how we're going to resolve this peacefully."

Will said, "Love is stronger than hate."

Irma said, "Oh, good grief. Hay Lin, you're contagious!"

"Irma, this Alchemist, is more than just an alternate me. She is me. She's as good as my sister, and if I have always been your friend, then you can't say that she hasn't been. Can you really abandon her like this?"

Irma said, "No."

Cornelia said, "God, lay on the guilt trip." She smiled and said, "I'm ashamed I even thought of it. It's still Will, and she needs us, now more than ever."

Taranee said, "I'd never forgive myself if I didn't try to help her, but there's no way we're going to avoid a fight with her, and you know it."

When they were done with dinner, they all sat and talked, even Susan and Dean, and against all odds, Will was feeling better, and was feeling a sense of purpose again. Many of Susan's doubts had disappeared as well. She said, "Will, I've been really scared. You are in a really dangerous situation, one that I don't think you should be in, but I can't put a stop to it. I'm helpless. I feel as overwhelmed as you did today. Then you came down and told everyone that you had to save the Alchemist, no matter what. I couldn't help but feel that everything was going to be okay, and I couldn't believe how strong you are."

Hay Lin said, "People who make you feel weak only pretend to be strong. The truly strong makes everyone around her feel strong."

Irma said, "Hay Lin, you are hiding a bag of fortune cookies, I know it! All of these little proverbs! She's been doing it since yesterday!"

Cornelia said, "She's always done it. Oriental wisdom, you know."

"But she's been doing it, like, every fifteen minutes."

Hay Lin said, "It's not my fault your ancestors didn't impart you with wisdom."

Cornelia said, "Hay Lin, they need to impart her with a brain before they can impart her with wisdom."

Will said, "Guys, can we not argue with each other?" The Heart appeared before her and glowed, the Oracle's voice filling the room, and this time, Susan and Dean heard it too.

They were standing on marble, surrounded by Corinthian pillars. There was mist all around, and there was a deep, penetrating sense of calm. Susan said, "Are we in heaven?"

"Good guess," said Will, "Kandrakar actually, but heaven is close enough."

The Guardians appeared in their Guardian form, along with Orube. They all turned and bowed to the Oracle. Susan and Dean clumsily turned and followed suit. Elyon was absent.

"The Guardians grace these halls quite often as there is always a threat to the tenuous balance of the universe. Now, they arrive bearing a burden upon their hearts. It is not just any burden; it is the greatest of all burdens. They bear the burden of truth, and today it takes many forms. Truth weighs heavily on all of your minds. Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin struggle with the concept of duality, the truth of a defender that must play many roles in life. For Will and her family, truth goes deeper and raises the question of identity. Cornelia has proven to be the most stalwart of all of the Guardians, and even now, is determined to give comfort and strength to the rest.

"Truth can be the greatest burden, but if you are willing to accept it, it can become your most valuable asset, a tool that can fashion a solution to your greatest problems and be a mighty weapon in your darkest hour, and this hour is dark indeed. Of course, no matter how dark the hour becomes, one need only shine a light and the solution becomes clear.

"Orube, you have been trapped outside of Kandrakar and away from your duties, but I sense the Guardians will need you very soon. Will you continue with them as you once did?"

Orube said, "As long as I am needed, my service is theirs."

"You do Luba great credit. Guardians, welcome back. Will, you should notice that you have been accompanied by those who have recently discovered your secret. Their knowledge creates an undue hardship for you. They will worry for you continually and you will bear the burden their strife."

Will said, "Oracle, if I may, I would very much prefer to keep my secret, but this is my family, and whether I like it or not, they found out. We have the right to work this out on our own terms. I humbly request that you not intervene. I trust them, and they must be able to trust me."

"I am pleased to hear it, Will. I have complete faith in you. You have even overcome the shadow in your heart, a shadow that even the strongest warriors in history would have fallen before. Know that even though you have vanquished the shadow, you cannot destroy it. It is still there and it will make your coming task that much more difficult."

"I am prepared. If I can't destroy the shadow, then perhaps I should accept it for what it is: a part of me."

The Oracle smiled. "No doubt you have heard this before, but you are the greatest Keeper of the Heart we have ever known." His expression became grave. "Will, what has happened to you saddens me, but with your words and deeds, you have proven yourself even mightier than I had dared hope, but I wonder what the outcome would be in such a confrontation with your other self."

"Do you believe we are wrong to try to save her?"

"No. I do not believe your conscience would allow you to do otherwise. Whatever you choose, you must prevent her from achieving her goals at any cost. If there is any hope in saving her at all, know that it lies with Susan Vandom."

"With me?" said Susan, stunned to be so addressed.

"Humans are among the most magical creatures there are, and there are many kinds of magic, none so strong as the bond between mother and child. Remember that, and there may be hope." Again, addressing the Guardians, he said, "The Alchemist disappeared from my vision, which is an ill portent, but I have seen that she has the power to shape the universe to her whims. I cannot see how."

Will stepped forward, "Sir, what is the Seventh Heart?"

The Oracle's face darkened, "A legend. It is said that seven sages once each possessed a cosmic Heart. One day, one of them died, and then one of them had two Hearts. With those two Hearts, he enslaved the other sages, and he caused chaos, shaping the universe to his whims. Devastation swept the Infinite Realms and the people were at the evil sage's mercy. Then, one sage came to his senses and broke the bonds of the evil one's control. He took the seven Hearts for himself and created Kandrakar so that such a catastrophe could never happen again. He then threw six of the Hearts into the Infinite Void, scattering them to the Infinite Realms. The last heart, he divided into six; five aurameres and the crystal, the Heart of Kandrakar. He became the first Oracle. The Heart of Kandrakar chose the first Guardians to guard against the chaos that the Seventh Heart once brought. So you see, this cannot be the device that the Alchemist possesses. It requires the Heart of Kandrakar to function."

Will closed her eyes, preparing herself for the fear and disappointment she was about to see. "When she created me, the Heart divided into two; the Heart of Kandrakar and the Star of Cassidy. She has the Star of Cassidy, but I think either one will work."

Cries of dismay echoed through the council chambers. "No!" some simply called, while others lamented, "It cannot be!"

"Then," said the Oracle, "after having guarded against this for so long, we have failed, and it is a Guardian who brought the pieces together."

Will said, "Oracle, I am so sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for. I do not rebuke you or the Alchemist. You are not to blame, and her pain runs deep. I merely point out the irony in the situation. Will, you and the Guardians must disperse the Seventh Heart. If she begins, all of the realms, including Earth will be thrown into a chaos that will be returned to very foundations of civilization. The first catastrophe created the Infinite Realms. Imagine what this new catastrophe will bring."

Irma turned to Cornelia and said, "So does that mean I should wait awhile before planning my tour of the Infinite Realms?"

Will said, "Oracle, we are not entirely certain how we should proceed."

The Oracle said, "Unfortunately, neither am I. Until I can perceive the Alchemist, I am powerless to advise you, however we have been speaking of truths. One truth is that we identify with that which we are most familiar. She is absent from Metamoor and she is absent from Earth, but her reappearance in each of those places is inevitable, and it is likely in one of those places that she will begin the task of unraveling reality. Will, you are the one best equipped to find her. There is one more thing you should know. I have addressed Wilhelmina Vandom in this hall for many years. I should think I would know if you were not her, and I can assure you, you are the Will I have always known. This place is not unfamiliar to you and you are not unfamiliar to me."

Hay Lin playfully pushed Will. "Yap!"

Will bowed her head, not out of reverence, but in response to the weight that was lifted off her shoulders. If the wisest being in the universe believed it, then it must be true. "Thank you, sir."

The interview had ended, and Elyon was sitting at the kitchen table sipping a Cherry Coke through a straw. "So, how's the Oracle doing?"

Irma said, "Oh, he's just fine. You know, he's got the whole 'higher plane of existence' thing going for him. I'm sorry, did you want to go too?"

"I've spent enough time in Kandrakar, thank you very much. What's the game plan?"

Cornelia said, "There isn't one."

Will said, "Apparently, the Alchemist left Metamoor shortly after ejecting us and nobody seems to know where she went, so we bide our time. Since she's me, the Oracle expects we should be able to find each other pretty easily, and he thinks that if she wants to make a new universe, she's going to start either here or Metamoor."

Susan sat down at the table. "Look girls, I don't anything about what you do, or how you do it, but I think I know my daughter pretty well. What would you do, Will?"

Will pondered that a moment. "For these past few years, it feels like we've been drawing farther apart. If I were doing this, you'd be the first one I came to. I'd want you to see what I can accomplish. I'd want to show you that I can make you proud."

Everyone turned to Will, Susan, and Dean. "Wow!" said Irma. "Insightful."

Hay Lin raised an eyebrow. "That settles it. Twenty-four hour watch on Mrs. Vandom."

Will didn't open her eyes. "My dad, too. He's the biggest disappointment in my life. She'll want him to know it. I don't believe she'd hurt him physically. I think mostly, she'd to emotionally hurt him, but I have no idea what her state of mind is, and I don't want to take the chance."

"You're sure?" asked Taranee.

"Absolutely, one-hundred-percent."

Cornelia said, "It would be safer if we could keep them together."

Susan's shoulders squared and she said, "No way."

"Can we even find him?" asked Dean.

"Kadma knows where he is," said Will.

"Who?" Dean's confusion was understandable.

Susan was the one who surprised them. "What would the Rising Star have to do with this?"

Will opened her eyes and looked at her mother. "You knew? You know Kadma?"

She shook her head. "I've never met her, but I know she's the one who convinced MacGruder to bring me to Heatherfield."

"Kadma is the previous Earth Guardian."

Susan's eyes widened. "I never would have even brought us to Heatherfield if it wasn't for her."

Will felt sorry for her mother. Susan was putting the pieces together. Orube had told her that the Guardians are always drawn to Heatherfield. Kadma was the former Earth Guardian, the founder of the Rising Star Foundation, and had made the Vandom's move to Heatherfield practical. Susan's eyes were now opened to the reality of forces involved in her life.

"We can't make my parents stay in the same place," said Will. "If you could see how he treats her, you'd understand."

Cornelia said, "I'll go with you to see Kadma."


	6. The Two Hearts

The Council of the Infinite City was distressed. The Council of Elders was seeking guidance, and the Triumvirate was at a loss. The Oracle, Endarno, and Yan Lin walked through the Infinite City together, as was their wont, considering the problem, discussing the problem, and disagreeing about the problem. The Alchemist was absent to their sight. What could she be doing, even now, without their knowledge? The Oracle was certain that if the Alchemist had initiated her grand scheme, she would not be able to keep it secret from the walls of Kandrakar.

For Endarno, the problem raised another issue. "Why is that girl, Will not perceived as a threat? Look at what the Alchemist has done."

Yan Lin said, "But the Alchemist is not Will, not really. She has suffered a whole world of experience unique and quite distant from the Will who still commands the Guardians."

Endarno nodded. "True, but you cannot deny that this demonstrates that the potential exists for Will to become what her original is."

The Oracle shook his head. "The potential exists in all living things. Even the kindest soul can descend into the deepest forms of depravity when his life is turned inside out and his nightmares become more real than his dreams. What we see here are possibilities made real. Two possible scenarios have become the future. One scenario is a Will Vandom whose life was destroyed by Phobos and who was forced to abandon everything she knew and loved. The other is a Will Vandom whose life was shattered, and then blessedly, it was given back to her. We could act and take Will's power away from her, but what would be the point? She continues be virtuous and valiant and to such a degree that everyone around her is empowered by her displays of virtue and valor. Endarno, you speak of what might be. Even the most primitive philosophies know that the wisest of us must not be swayed by fear of what might be."

"But what the Alchemist has become is not what might be. It is. That means it could happen to the Guardian Will."

Yan Lin said, "But it has not, and may never. So, yes, you are speaking of what might be. The Alchemist's decision has come to pass and cannot be undone, so what use is there in dismissing a warrior that still remains ever faithful and true to our cause?"

Endarno bowed his head and said, "I cannot doubt your reasoning. I suppose that all we can do is observe and see what path Will might follow in the future."

The Oracle said, "That is all anyone can do, my friend."

In Fadden Hills…

"Is that all you can do?" Cornelia and Kadma were getting along rather well, all things considered.

"How dare you, young one? Do you treat all of your elders with such flagrant disrespect?" They were so frighteningly alike Will was hoping they wouldn't notice her.

"Only the fossils that have it coming!" Cornelia was well past getting them kicked out. That ship had sailed.

"What is it you think I owe a servant of Kandrakar?"

"Gee, I don't know. I didn't think you'd be too cheap to hand out a piece of paper with an address on credit!"

Will finally said, "It's not for Kandrakar! It's for Earth!"

Kadma looked at Will and said, "What is that to me?"

"She's going to start on Earth! She's convinced she can erase pain and suffering."

Kadma looked at her strangely. "Suffering is nature. It cannot be erased, but I don't understand what the danger is if someone tries."

"She has the Seventh Heart."

With this Kadma's eyes widened. "Then she is a fool and we will all suffer for her foolishness. Why does this make it important that you find your father?"

"Because he's her father, too."

"You are an only child."

Will nodded. "Do you still want us to leave or would you like an explanation?"

Kadma nodded to the two chairs on the other side of her desk. Will always liked this office. It wasn't actually an office so much as a desk and a chair in the middle of a huge botanical garden. Kadma sat down and said, "Start with who she is."

So Will and Cornelia explained everything, starting with Will's disappearance and ending with the Oracle's explanation of the Seventh Heart. They explained about the Alchemist's statement that Will was a type of doppelganger called an altamere.

Kadma listened patiently, only asking a question when she didn't understand something. Finally, when they were finished, Kadma said, "I have read of this, but in my entire life I have never heard of anything like this actually happening. That it was done with only the Heart of Kandrakar tells me one thing for certain; you are the most powerful Guardians to have ever walked the realms. You are so powerful, you may even be able to defy Kandrakar and prevail. I think perhaps that the Alchemist sensed that."

Will said, "The Oracle said that I am as real as he has ever known me to be, but I'm still just a copy of her."

Kadma shook her head. "No. The Oracle is correct. Altamere is a very rare word. Its sound suggests the concept of an alternate image. You're still thinking of your astral drops. In science, there is something called cloning. That is all the astral drops ever are, but in the case of an altamere, it is as if the two of you were alternate versions of the same person. There is no 'original' Will, or 'duplicate' Will. You are simply in the unique, impossible, magical position of both being the same person. The fact that you walked away with the Heart of Kandrakar while she kept the Star of Cassidy demonstrates that. For the first time in history, the Heart of Kandrakar has two rightful Keepers."

Kadma rubbed her temples and continued. "This is part of Nerissa's legacy. This never would have happened had her thirst for power not led her to steal the Heart, and had her malice not led her to fracture it. The legend of the Seventh Heart is a very old one, as old as the legend of the Dragons and the Nymph. Still, I had always just dismissed it as a creation myth. If it is true, if the Alchemist now possesses this power, then you can ill afford to underestimate its potential to devastate the Infinite Realms."

"How far could it go?" asked Cornelia.

Kadma glanced at her with narrowed eyes. She was clearly still sore from the shouting match. "The universe is much more fragile than it appears. Every piece holds another piece in place. It is like a house of cards: you can't take one away without the entire structure collapsing. She will think she can change nature, and she can be removing pieces of the universe and putting new pieces in. What will happen is that the universe will begin to unravel, and the more changes she makes, the faster the process will be, and by the time she realizes what she has done, it will be too late. She'll be desperately trying to hold the universe together, but all of her efforts will only make the problem worse. Instead of being the goddess of the next great religion, she'll rule as the devil. You do know that this is how devils are born? They are gods that failed."

Will said, "If the universe starts to unravel, how do we stop it?"

Kadma laughed. "You're asking me? I have certainly never attempted to be a goddess though I may have occasionally enjoyed the title in my youth when male suitors came to call. You are asking for information that does not exist. If the Alchemist begins to unravel the universe, the only advice I can give you is, stop her as quickly as you can. The less she manages to unravel, the less damage will be done, the sooner the universe will recover."

Will nodded. "Please, may I know where my father is?"

"Why do you want that information so badly? After how he has treated you and your mother, you shouldn't even be bothered with him."

"Because even though he is the biggest disappointment in my life, I still love him and I don't want anything bad to happen to him."

Kadma interlaced her fingers and held them in front of her, her eyes closed. "Of course, because whatever else he is, he is still your father. So what makes you think the Alchemist may harm him?"

"I don't know if she will. I just don't want to take the chance."

Kadma smiled humorlessly. She reached over to her desk and pulled a piece of paper out. She scrawled something on it and handed it to Will. "This is his contact information." She looked at Cornelia. "Since I am too cheap to give a piece of paper on credit, at 15.00 dollars a ream, I believe that comes to .03 cents." Cornelia stuck out her tongue and dug into her purse. "I am teasing, of course."

Will said, "I have one more question. It's about my mother." Kadma beckoned her to continue. "Was she one of the Rising Star's children?"

Kadma closed her again, returning to that meditative state. "Yes. Your mother knew hardship early in life and she was one of our first cases."

"I…umm…you…I guess…I mean…thank you, for looking after her. Growing up with just her to look after me, it was easy to see she never got any breaks. I thought a lot about how unfair things were for her and how hard she tried to make sure I was happy."

"You do her great credit, Will. I can imagine what this is like for her, knowing your secret, and especially knowing who the Alchemist is. I can promise you she is worried and scared."

Will and Cornelia bid Kadma farewell and rather than transposition back to Heatherfield, they began to search for the address on Kadma's paper. For Cornelia, their departure couldn't have come fast enough. She didn't seem to like Kadma, and they had gotten along so well.

Back in Heatherfield…

Two figures prowled the old carnival. It had been just last year that one of them came here with the man she hoped would be her boyfriend. Cedric had used some kind of glamor spell to make the park seem active, then trapped them at the top of the Ferris wheel. That had been when Matt learned her secret. All of that was a long time ago, and now Matt was the sweetheart of another Will. It stung. It stung deeply. The memory of Matt had kept her sane for those two months, and now she had given it all up, used arcane magic she didn't even know she possessed. She had given up all of her hope and given it to another Will.

She could simply drop all pretenses and take Matt back, but she knew that wouldn't be the right decision. It would only confuse him. As far as he knew, he had her back. She couldn't do that to him. She couldn't make him suffer, and if she went to him now, he would suffer, with love-sickness and with confusion. The time was coming when she would put an end to all of that. The Infinite Realms would live in perfect harmony, free of war, torture, and strife. The Alchemist now understood why people made certain choices, why they became thieves, murderers, despots, or why they became soldiers, police, defenders, or why they choose a normal, quiet life.

Davira had helped her understand. Davira was no sage. She was an idiot, raised in a royal family who thought being queen meant taking what she wanted. She had all that she could ever want and was convinced that she was entitled to more. She was like a vicious animal, attacking over the big portions of a kill and snarling at anything that came near. To say that she was evil would be a stretch. It would be more accurate to say that Davira was simply a wild animal that had never learned to socialize. The result was that Davira had cultivated a life philosophy that many would regard as evil. Phobos was an evil sociopath. Davira was something too base to be evil. To think that she came from a family that would call itself noble.

"This is…quaint," said Davira. She looked around at the distressed and decaying structures of the old carnival with a wrinkle in her nose.

"It's abandoned," said the Alchemist, "which makes it perfect."

"Couldn't we find an abandoned palace?"

"Complete with abandoned servants? Any place we find is going to have to be a place that's been vacated. Any such place is going to be a fixer-upper."

"'Fixer-upper': I love your vernacular. Well, this place certainly fits that description. I suppose we won't be entertaining any time soon?"

The Alchemist looked around at the structures. "Oh, I don't know. It seems like this place could just use a bit of a magic touch." She pulled her wand and pointed at the main complex, a structure that housed a fun house, an indoor roller coaster, and a gift shop. The spell was far more powerful than what Cedric had cast. This wasn't an illusion. The roof, walls and foundation were repaired. The fun house was reduced in size, the first corridor only being covered in mirrors, with the rest of it gutted out, and new rooms magically constructed. When she was finished, the structure gleamed as though new. They went inside to see the results. The Alchemist put her hands on her hips, thoroughly satisfied.

Davira said, "What is hanging on the wall?"

The Alchemist said, "That would be a Sony, 60 inch, HD flat screen, with a Playstation 3, complete with Blu-Ray, and surround sound."

"I don't what that is, but it sounds impressive."

Davira continued her tour of their new dwelling. "So many strange and interesting things…what in the world is this?" She had ventured into the kitchen and was scrutinizing a large white box.

"That's a refrigerator: Kenmore side-by-side, the biggest one I could find. It stores food."

"You created all of this with your magic?"

"Of course I didn't. For that, I'd have to know how they worked. There's a shopping mall near here. I transpositioned all of this stuff." She didn't tell Davira that out of guilt, she had reprogrammed the merchant's credit card machines to draw money from an illusory account. Even now, with what she planned, she didn't like the idea of stealing from people.

"How does it work?"

The Alchemist opened the freezer and a blast of cold air hit them.

"It's empty."

"We have to put food in it." She snapped her fingers. "That's what I was forgetting."

"What magic runs these contraptions?"

"Electricity. I tapped into the city power grid. Free energy."

"You mean, these people have harnessed lightning?"

The Alchemist nodded, pleased she was making such an impression on Davira.

Davira looked at their home in wonder. "My opinion of this world hasn't improved, but I must admit that it has a certain appeal."

The Alchemist went into her bedroom and looked in the drawer of the Kermit green nightstand. A new cellphone was there, exactly where she would keep it. She opened the flip face and made a call. Davira had followed her. She observed the frogs around the room of many absurd varieties; a peculiar interest. She turned her attention to the Alchemist.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"There's no food in the fridge. I figured I'd order a pizza."

Davira briefly pondered what pizza might be. "You have explained some of this world to me. Do you not have to pay, or do we simply dispose of the delivery man?"

The Alchemist pulled a credit card from the folds of her robe, a card that was connected to an imaginary account that would produce an infinite supply of real money. "I've got it covered."

As the evening wore on, Davira was too busy marveling at the wonders of Earth to concern herself with the Alchemist's plan. Davira was enraptured by the television and was completely lost in a Star Trek marathon.

"You know this isn't real, right?" said the Alchemist.

Davira looked up, startled. "Of course, the images are obviously contrived and there is no reality to anything that happens but the stories are so marvelous! If I had had a general like James Kirk, I would still be the sovereign of Ulnra."

"I'm partial to Spock, myself." Great, thought the Alchemist, I've created an alien Trekkie. She looked at the screen and saw a scene with Kirk pointing a makeshift cannon at a guy in a lizard costume.

"Are all of the images so obviously fake?"

"Most of them are. Remember that the actors and creators of these shows are trying to show us something that doesn't exist. The expensive TV shows and movies though can sometimes be so realistic it's like you're actually there. Plus, this show is old. The technology has improved since this was made."

Davira spun towards the Alchemist. "And pizza: I've never tasted anything so wonderful!"

The Alchemist thought that that pizza had been a somewhat inferior recipe, but she was sure that to someone who had never had the many varieties of pizza, it was divine.

"Why do you want to change this world? It's incredible!"

The Alchemist picked up the remote and turned on CNN. Davira watched for 15 minutes. There was news coverage of bombings, a school shooting, a murder/suicide, and Korean threats of nuclear attack.

The Alchemist said, "This world isn't incredible; it's a nightmare. All of this," she gestured to the television and the video games, "is just novelty. Look at the screen. Those are women being shot protecting their babies. Don't you feel anything for them?"

Davira looked up, her expression contrite, but her words were defiant. "Am I here to learn compassion for these people?"

"No, you're here to keep the Guardians away from me, but it'd be nice if you learned a little compassion."

"I am exactly what you despise about life, aren't I? I no more wish for these horrors than you do, but more such horrors will be necessary to put an end to this. You need a ruler like me if you intend to change the nature of the world."

"'Can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs', huh? That's your philosophy, isn't it?"

"If eggs are meant as a metaphor for people, then yes, that is my philosophy. Death is the natural order of all things. If you want to put an end these atrocities, you will have to commit some of them. However you go about your business, when you play games with civilization, people will die."

"And people will suffer; the way you and Phobos made me suffer. I won't have it."

Davira considered the Alchemist carefully. "Phobos made a grave error with you. I suspect entire worlds will pay for his error soon enough. Even I know that when you push an animal too hard, you feel its teeth."

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know. When I gave up my world, the thought never crossed my mind that I wouldn't be able to simply take another. I was so used to having my heart's desire and being served that I suppose I thought everything else was mine to take. If you plan to rule worlds, prepare to be heartless. Empathy has no place in the business of government."

Whatever the Alchemist believed about Davira, she wasn't prepared for this. From Davira she felt the one thing that Davira spoke against: empathy. Davira empathized with the Alchemist, and from that realization, a small, tiny intruder crept into the Alchemist's heart. It was such an insignificant thing, but unchecked, it could lay waste to Titans. It was doubt, and that glimmer of doubt, though tiny and insignificant, was a seed that once sown, could never be killed and would grow. It was because of this seed that the Oracle could now see the Alchemist, and he smiled. With the seed of doubt came the hope that salvation could take flight.

Where had that doubt come from? It came from Davira, because if someone like Davira could learn from her mistakes and become a better person for them, then maybe that potential existed in all people. Such magical creatures, humans.

Not that far from the old carnival…

Dean's apartment was about the same size as the Vandom's. It wasn't very clean either, though Dean did pick up after himself. The problem came with the fact that Dean, as a teacher, brought his work home with him. The living room wasn't packed with filing boxes, but it was rather crowded. Files hung out at some points, clearly drawn for quick and easy access. This was what was referred to as an organized mess. When they were married in the next few months and they put a down payment on their own house, Susan made a mental note to make sure that Dean had a room dedicated to this and make sure it didn't spread to any other area of the house. Susan had been to Dean's apartment plenty of times, but now that she was sleeping here, she couldn't help but take note of his habits.

"Dean, I can't tell you how much I appreciate this." Susan had rebuffed Orube's offer to stay in Mrs. Rudolph's house. She had appreciated the gesture, but the situation was just too strange, and staying in that house with the concept that it represented would have kept her awake at night. Orube had been very understanding.

Dean said, "Don't worry about it, Susan. Besides, we'll be husband and wife pretty soon. There's no way I'd leave you and Will in a situation like this."

The landlord had offered to pay for a motel until the apartment could be repaired, but Dean had decided to ride in like a knight in shining armor. "So, how are we going to handle the sleeping arrangements?"

"Well, I was thinking that you and Will could take the bedroom while stayed out here on the sofa sleeper."

"Dean, I don't want to kick you out of your bedroom."

"It's okay. It's only for a few days, and I sure can't make you take the sofa."

"Thank you so much, Dean."

There was a knock on the door. Dean went to answer it and he let Will in. "You got my message!" he said.

Will looked puzzled, but she said, "Yep! I got it right off of my voicemail." She looked around. "Thank you, Professor Collins. It's going to be a little strange staying with my history teacher, but I think it's time we started acting like a family."

Susan and Dean traded looks. Susan was ecstatic to hear Will say something like that. Dean was rather pleased as well. He said, "Susan, there's no doubt: you raised a great kid."

There was another knock at the door, and when Dean answered it, he was surprised to see who was on the other side. "Detective Alvarez, may I help you?"

"Professor Collins, you, Mrs. Vandom, and her daughter were three of the six people that disappeared during the incident three days ago. You tell me; can you help me?"

Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin had warned them about this. Nobody seemed to come up with a good explanation, except for Susan. "I'm sorry, after what Mrs. Davira did, I tried to defend my daughter. I was so angry, I just ran after her. Dean, Will, and Cornelia tried to stop me. When we came back, you had already gone."

Everyone could see that Alvarez didn't believe a word of it. Still, he didn't have any evidence against it. "And it took us two days to catch up with each other. Right."

Alvarez looked down at Will, and concern was etched across his face. This was where his worries were. Will was a child, growing up, dealing with terrible trauma. This was the reason he had become a police officer. Parents could try all they liked but when it came down to it, children needed someone in authority who would speak for them, who would keep them safe. There was one thing he certain of now. Will's entire demeanor had changed. It was only expected given what she had been through. Still, the intensity unnerved him. She wore a look that was difficult to describe. There was calm indifference and cold determination. She didn't look at Alvarez; she looked through him.

Alvarez couldn't help but think that the last time someone looked at him like this, he had gotten shot. She had what soldiers and cops called the 1000 yard stare. He remembered what she had told him about being one of the hardest people he had ever met, and he believed it. "How are you doing, Will?"

Will smiled carelessly, as though the devil may care. "I've had a busy couple of days, how about you?"

Alvarez couldn't get over one inescapable fact: Will Vandom did not act like a kidnap victim. Could a girl this young be the warrior she seemed to be? "Well, I've been kind of freaking out, wondering what happened to you and your mother. You know Cornelia Hale didn't show up at her house until yesterday. She convinced them that she had slept over with her friends. I know she didn't. You know she didn't."

Will stood up and began to pace the room. "You know, this whole thing has been a transformational experience for me."

"Will, do you remember anything?"

Will's eyes narrowed in consternation. "I remember someone telling me that if I gave him what he wanted, it would all end."

"Who, what?"

"I can't remember."

Susan's phone rang and she went into the next room. Will looked back and watched her mother go. She turned partially back to Alvarez, but kept one of her ears directed towards her mother. "What are you here for, Detective Alvarez?"

"Will, I want you to understand something about me. I was born and raised in a ghetto, ran with street gangs, a regular hood in a Latino neighborhood. When I was your age, my girlfriend and I made some mistakes and we had a daughter. It never should have happened but that kid turned my life around. When she was six-years-old, she disappeared from school. Nobody ever found her. That's why I'm a cop today. She'd be your age, now. Will, I just want to make sure you're safe, and until I catch whoever did this to you, I am never going to have that peace of mind."

Will nodded. "I understand."

"There are strange things going on here. How come I'm the only one who remembers what really happened the other day? Will, what are you and your four friends hiding from me? Let me help you."

Will's eyes lit up and a sinister smile crossed her features. "Detective Alvarez, you don't know what you're asking."

"Help me understand."

"What would you believe? What story would you like me to tell?"

"Not what I've been hearing!"

Susan came in and whispered something to Dean, and then she shot a glance at Will, her eyes wide with uncertainty. Dean seemed rather unnerved as well. Alvarez took note of it and looked back at Will. "Your second disappearance has caused a stir at the station. I have to ask all of you to come with me. We need to get to the bottom of this. The last time we talked, quite a few bizarre things happened."

"The last time we talked?" asked Will, still perfectly calm. "I've never met you before in my life."

Two uniformed officers came into the room, including Detective Lair. "I'm sorry, Susan. There's nothing we can do."

Alvarez looked to Susan and saw the look of terror on her face, and it was clear it had everything to do with her daughter. "Especially if Will's going to start playing these games."

Will said, "Detective, are you aware of the concept of duality? Has it occurred to you that there might be two of me?"

Susan said, "Will, listen to me. You don't have to do this. We know how strong you are. You don't have to prove anything."

The Alchemist said, "How many times do I have to tell you people?" She waved a hand, and the two uniformed officers were transpositioned back to the station. They would remember nothing, the Alchemist's memory magic being considerably superior to Irma's. Alvarez was another problem. She couldn't get rid of him, and for some reason, his mind couldn't be altered. He would have to be convinced to remain silent. "I'm not Will anymore."

Alvarez spun around. "What just happened?"

The Alchemist stood and suddenly the world spun around. "Jorge Alvarez, you're about to have a transformational experience, too."

When it was over, only Dean stood in the apartment. Susan, the police, and the Alchemist were gone.


	7. Trust

Alvarez's eyes were shut tight. He wanted to get off of this damned roller coaster now. As soon as his stomach stopped spinning he clutched whatever he could get ahold of, which happened to be wooden panel. He opened his eyes and found that he was gripping the edge of his desk back at the station. How had he gotten back here? He stood abruptly and stormed from his office, nearly running headlong into Detective Lair.

"Is Wilhelmina Vandom here?"

Lair's eyes widened and he said, "That's my daughter's friend. What's going on?"

"What's…" he stopped and looked around. This was wrong. At first, he thought the precinct had been somehow reorganized in his several hour absence. It was impossible but that was the only reasonable explanation. Then he realized that the new faces weren't new at all. There was Polaski, who had been killed during a bank robbery two years ago. Gene Barnes had been reassigned to a new precinct along with Jenna Hannity. If he spoke one word of the truth, he'd never get out of the psychiatric ward.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Vandom called to see if your daughter had come here. I told her I hadn't seen her."

"Oh, Irma hasn't been here all day. I don't know why Will would think she was here."

Alvarez smiled and said, "Right. Well, look. I need to clear my schedule. I've just had big break in an investigation. Give the chief an excuse for me."

"Sure thing. Go get 'em."

Alvarez checked the time and the date. It was 2008! It was five years ago! As for time, Will and her friends should have been out of school for an hour. He knew all of their routes after having investigated Will's disappearance for nearly two months. After checking two of their main routes, he finally saw them run by. All five of them were there, and they were nearly a foot and a half shorter. They looked like miniature versions of themselves.

They each split up and went home. He decided to stick with Will, since she was the one who was kidnapped and this whole thing seemed to center on her. Sooner or later, she left. He followed her and she rejoined her friends at…shell beach; this late? For some reason, Taranee wasn't there. Following them from the car, he kept out of sight. He was good at what he did and he had no intention of being spotted. They were standing on the beach just talking and the sun was going down, then he saw something that made him doubt his own sanity.

The girls each began to glow and in a moment, there was an exact copy of each of them. He pointed a directional microphone at them so he could hear what they were saying.

"Hey, incredible! You're me!" said Irma. Her double said, "Hey, led go ub my nose!" Irma turned to the others and said, "I don't know about you guys, but I can see myself just fine!"

Cornelia said, "Fantastic! It's like looking into a mirror!" Her double said, "Not really. I don't have split ends." Cornelia pitched a fit. "What did you say?!"

Irma said, "Hah, you're a perfect match."

"Not me," said Will. Sure enough her duplicate was having trouble remembering even the most basic information. In moments, they disappeared into a cave, and their duplicates were walking up the beach. He watched these copies leave, clearly meant to placate their families. Hadn't Will told him there was more than one of her?

He went down to the cave and explored as deeply as it went. They were gone. There was no sign of them. So he waited at the cave entrance and he waited. These girls held his answers and now he needed their help. It was nearly a day before they reemerged. He was hungry and tired, but he stood vigil. They saw him, and the panic in their expressions was apparent.

"Who are you?" asked Will, her voice quaking and the look of a cornered animal in her eyes.

"I'm Detective Jorge Alvarez. I work with Irma's father."

"And how long have you been here?" asked Cornelia.

"I've been following you since you left school. I saw everything, except what happened when you went into the cave."

"You've been spying on us all day?" Cornelia looked furious.

"It's not what you think. I'm not a stalker or a blackmailer. I'm working on a kidnapping that just took a very strange turn, and you girls are the only ones that can help me."

Will asked, "Is this about Elyon?"

"No, Will, you're the one who was kidnapped."

"What?"

"Your disappearance was first reported on February six of 2013 and you reappeared on April second of that same year with extensive injuries and no memory of what had happened to you. During the course of my investigation, I was attacked by a witch that you five fought off. Taranee left the strongest impression on me with her pyrotechnics. Two days after this incident, I confront Will with what I witnessed. At that point, you told me you weren't Will and then I woke up earlier today, five years in the past. Then I witness something that certainly explains what Will told me in the future. Please tell me I'm losing my mind."

The girls all looked at each other. They all had uneasy looks about them. He could see that they were deciding what to do and they were unsure how to proceed.

"At least tell me if you believe me."

They all looked at him. That was the one thing they were sure of. "We believe you," said Will.

Irma said, "So, you're not going to tell my father that I'm, like, a superhero?"

"A what?" asked Cornelia.

"Well, that's what we do! We keep the veil between realms closed and protect the universe from evil. Isn't that what a superhero does?"

"Irma, you've been putting your curlers in too tight."

"And you've pickled your brain in that hair gel."

"I most certainly do not wear hair gel, fish lips!"

"Fish lips? I suppose now you'll tell me that bimbo blonde doesn't come in a bottle."

"Enough," said Will. "We've got more important things to worry about."

Cornelia and Irma stuck their tongues out at each other. For the second time in a row, Alvarez observed something very interesting about these girls. They all deferred to Will, even Cornelia, who he would have expected to be leader of the pack.

Will said, "I don't know what you're hoping for, but we've only just learned the truth about our abilities. Time travel is way beyond us."

Hay Lin said, "Hey, someone in Kandrakar might know!"

Irma's eyes narrowed. "Hay Lin, how many times have we been to Kandrakar?"

"Um…we haven't."

"Um-hmm, how many people do you know that have been to Kandrakar?"

"Nobody."

"Right. Do you know where Kandrakar is?"

"No?"

"Okay, do you know anybody who knows where Kandrakar is?"

"Can't say I do."

Irma shouted. "Then how are we supposed to get there?"

Hay Lin smiled sheepishly. "The Heart of Kandrakar?"

"Okay," said Alvarez, "wait a minute. First, what is Kandrakar?"

Cornelia said, "Hay Lin, while we're at it, why don't you tell him all of our secrets."

Hay Lin squeezed her eyes shut. "Sorry."

"Oh, no. We're just supposed to keep this secret from Earth because humans don't know anything about magic, so obviously, the solution is for you and Irma to hold a conversation about the biggest secret of all. Shut up! He doesn't need to know about Kandrakar!"

Will said, "But maybe we can get some answers." She pulled a glowing pendant from her shirt.

"What's that?" asked Alvarez.

Will smiled sheepishly and said, "The Heart of Kandrakar?" She didn't need to ask. The Heart immediately came to life and showed them an image. As it came into focus, they saw Will, several years older, almost college age, in fact. She was with her mother, standing in what appeared to be the abandoned carnival. What disturbed young Will was how frightened her mother seemed to be of the older Will. Of course, observing how she was dressed, it was hard not to find her frightening. The hair was untouched, but she now wore form fitting black pants with a leather corset top. Except for her head, not an inch of skin was showing, and metal studs followed the seams of the shirt. What drew everyone's attention was the wand in her hand, and the wicked jewel glowing like Hell's fury, with mist and tendrils of energy flowing from it.

"Will," said Susan, "there's nothing you have to prove to me."

"My name's not 'Will'. I gave up all of my rights to that name when I created her. I'm the Alchemist."

"Tell me, then. What did you do? Is she really you?"

"She's more me than I am. I should think even you could see that. Then again, mothers tend to be very blind about their children. To be fair, I didn't actually create her. I just made it possible for her to exist. I just turned one into two." She led them into the old funhouse. "Welcome to my home. I left part of the funhouse intact. I like the mirrors, you see."

"You always did."

"I don't mean like a child. I mean as a being that holds the universe in her fingertips. These mirrors are, as of yet, untouched, but they hold the key to how I created the other me. Think about it, Mom. Isn't she a better daughter? You know the truth about the Guardians. She's not keeping things from you, and now I understand that she is leading the Guardians and being the perfect servant to Kandrakar that I always have been. She's turning into the perfect daughter that you used to have. I, on the other hand, am about to pull the world out from under everyone's feet, and I will start with these mirrors, as soon as all of our guests have arrived. Then I imagine that that other me will unite the Guardians and they'll be my enemies."

Susan looked as if she wanted to say something, but didn't, looking completely helpless and forlorn. The Alchemist, simply looked into her mirrors, not vainly, but as one watching television. "Have you ever wondered about the other side of the mirror? Have you ever thought that that person on the other side might be staring back at you? Consider them." The Alchemist pointed right at Alvarez and the Guardians. Susan gasped. "They're only seeing a vision from the Heart of Kandrakar, but who would imagine that we would stare right back at them?"

Susan said, "That's what you did with Alvarez? Where are they?"

"Five years in the past. Don't you recognize me when I was still your perfect daughter?"

Alvarez probably should've stayed quiet, but he couldn't help himself. "Why did you send me here?"

"So that when the time came to tell you what you needed to know, you'd believe me. For now, if five girls still terrified of their own abilities don't think they can trust you, don't expect me to."

Susan nearly screamed. "Will, is that-?"

The vision ended, but the Alchemist remained. "Remember, a secret spoken is a secret lost."

Alvarez was once more on Shell Beach with the Guardians. He looked around and saw that none of them knew what to make of what they had just seen.

"What was that?" asked Alvarez.

Cornelia's eyes narrowed as she found Alvarez. She said, "Looks to me like a certain detective stuck his nose where it didn't belong and it got bit."

"I was trying to find a kidnapper."

"And has it occurred to you that no ordinary kidnapper is even going to be able to touch us? What are you going to do; get a warrant for another planet? A little outside your jurisdiction, don't you think.

Taranee said, "Cornelia's got a point. The whole reason we have our powers is so that we can resist evil on an interplanetary scale. These are powers that humans can't even come close to. More to the point, I doubt the kidnapper is even human. Frankly, officer, this isn't your job. It's ours. You just stepped into it by accident and didn't take the hint that you didn't belong."

Alvarez shook his head and laughed. "Great, I'm getting lectured by a bunch of twelve-year-olds." He straightened up and squared his shoulders. Throwing his hands into the air, he said, "What hints? I had a kidnap victim that refused to answer my questions. She made excuses for things that couldn't be excused. When did I get a hint?"

Irma crossed her arms, "How about when you said we all started doing magic?"

Cornelia crossed her arms and smiled shrewdly, "And what about now? Isn't what you just saw a hint?"

Alvarez looked at his feet and muttered, "Okay, I guess you have a point." He looked back up. "Okay, you win. I'm a little pushy, but that's my job. I'm a cop. It's what I do. There's something she clearly wanted me to do now, and there's something you clearly need."

Hay Lin said, "Yeah, Future Will was really kind of scary."

Taranee said, "She didn't want to be called Will. Why would she want to be called the Alchemist?"

Will said, "My mother knew my secret, the Alchemist had clearly gone totally over to the Dark Side, and they were talking like there was two of me."

Hay Lin said, "Our astral drops, maybe?"

"Astral drops don't have power, and what the Alchemist was describing didn't sound like an astral drop. I get a strange feeling about all of this."

Irma said, "Yeah, I have a feeling, too; in my stomach. It's called hunger. We haven't eaten since yesterday."

Taranee said, "I'm not just hungry. I'm exhausted. Come on, guys, I was stuck for a week."

Alvarez got a notion. "If it's all right, I can give you girls a lift to Golden."

They all fired appraising looks at him. After a moment, Will asked, "You buying?"

The message was clear; if he wanted their trust, he could start by buying them lunch. In fact, he had checked his bank card earlier. It worked—it should; he'd had the same account since he first joined the force. "Anything on the menu."

In Fadden Hills, today…

Cornelia and Will walked down the rows of townhouses. Will's mother had never told her much about her father. Thomas Vandom was a compulsive gambler. No, he didn't play poker or bet on horses. He bet on the stock market. He bet on various business ventures and investments. It was one of those types of careers that can make men wealthy, which, of course, was the allure for Thomas, but as with any type of gambling, if luck isn't with you, or you don't have an intuition for predicting numbers, then you should try something else.

Thomas was one whose luck was variable. Sometimes he was hot. Usually he was cold. It had become such an obsession for him that he dedicated everything he was to it. Even his family had been reduced to assets, tools to be used; not precious people to be loved. That was why Will grew up never knowing him. What upset her the most was the fact that her mother wasn't the one had left. Thomas had left them after having taken everything they had. Once they were no longer useful to them, he had left without a backward glance. He came back when Will was thirteen, only to try to take her away from her mother so that he could blackmail her.

Finding his door, she wasn't surprised to find his Maserati Spyder parked out in front with a steering wheel lock on it. She was surprised to find that he lived in the biggest model townhouse complete with a private swimming pool, according to the leasing office's literature. Her father must have made some good trades. When she knocked on the door, a woman answered, only a little older than Will. She had olive skin and black hair with large brown eyes. She wore an expensive engagement band. She was way too young to be Thomas' fiancée, yet Will suspected that that was exactly who she was.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but may I please speak with Thomas Vandom?"

There was a look in the woman's eyes. There was deep insecurity there. In Will, she perceived a threat. Who was this young woman knocking on Thomas' door? For a moment, Will was surprised at how easily she sized other people up. It was as though she was always preparing to do battle. The woman said, "Can I tell him who is asking?"

"Will Vandom."

Surprised at the name, she looked Will over and then narrowed her eyes. Obviously, she was trying to guess how Will might be related to Thomas.

"I'm his daughter."

The woman blinked several times and gasped. "Oh, I am so sorry. I've completely forgotten my manners. Please, come in. I'll go get him." She showed Will and Cornelia. "I'm Sarina."

Will found she could read every aspect of this woman. She was naïve and unsure of herself, and Will was sure that that was exactly what Thomas valued about Sarina, aside from her obvious physical assets.

Cornelia assertively stepped in front of Sarina and offered her hand. "I'm Cornelia, Will's best friend."

Sarina smiled and took Cornelia's hand, cordially bowed out of the room and when she returned, she said, "He'll be out in a few minutes. He was a bit surprised. Would you like some water, Coke; I have orange juice?"

"Coke," said Cornelia.

"Thank you, Coke," said Will. Sarina went into the kitchen and Will said, "Was he as surprised as you were when you opened the door and found out he had a daughter?"

Sarina sighed and came out with two glasses of ice filled with the dark, effervescent fluid. "He doesn't talk much about his past."

After the life Susan Vandom had had with Thomas, Will felt sorry for Sarina. Her disposition was generally sweet, and by evading the question, she had revealed the fact that she had difficulty lying or being direct. Of course, that could have been an act.

"Why did you come here today?" asked Sarina.

Will said, "An emergency. I might have upset somebody that didn't take it well. She's already gone after my mother and now I'm afraid for my father."

Sarina's eyes widened in alarm. "Was your mother hurt?"

"She was basically just freaked out. I've got friends watching her." Will was still unaware that the Alchemist had managed to take Susan.

Thomas entered the room and stared at his daughter for a moment. What was that expression on his face? There was no way to tell. He could have been overjoyed or thoroughly disgusted. "How did you find me?"

Will shrugged. "We have a mutual friend. Were you trying to hide from me?"

"No, I was agreeing to never be in your life again."

Will looked around at the townhouse, at the perfectly Feng Shui décor, at the decked out home theater, at the modern art, some beautiful, some lewd, all very expensive, and she understood. "You were paid off. Please tell me you were at least hesitant when Kadma asked you to stay away from me."

Cornelia cleared her throat. "Um, Will, that's not what we're here for."

Thomas said, "Wait a minute, just how do you know about Kadma? I didn't even know about her until she approached me when I tried to get custody of you. Susan didn't know. Judge Cook didn't know." Realization dawned on his face. "It was you."

Will said, "I just asked her for help. She chose how to help."

Cornelia said, "Will, we are here to hide him from our new friend, not to start the Family Feud."

"Okay! Dad, I need you take Sarina, and go on vacation somewhere."

"I can't just pack up and go," Thomas said, "I have an important project."

A stabbing pain shot between Will's temples. It was too late. Something magical was nearby. "Dad, your life may depend on it. Go now, quickly, before she gets here." There was a knock at the door. "Don't answer it. Go out the back."

Thomas should have listened to his daughter. He should have heard the urgency in her voice echo off the walls. He should have heard her pleading meant for his welfare. Instead, Thomas said, "Sarina, see who it is."

She opened the door and asked what the caller wanted. Will and Cornelia couldn't see who it was, but they heard a horribly familiar simpering voice. "Aww, look at that. There's a woman between me and the man I'm here for." There was swift motion, a ripping sound, and Sarina doubled over in pain, blood spilling quickly onto the floor. Thomas ran forward, shouting Sarina's name.

Will said, "Cornelia, help Sarina." As Cornelia ran to Sarina's aid, Will pulled her father back. Will could see the wicked dagger in Davira's hand, and felt sick when she realized what the barbed blade must have done to Sarina. Thomas drew a pistol and fired several times at Davira, but the bullets didn't seem to penetrate.

A loud smack was accompanied by a shout of rage from Cornelia. "That's twice I've been shot in a week!" Cornelia, one hand massaging her buttocks, leaned Sarina against the wall in a seated position. The poor girl was covered in blood. She spun around as Davira advanced on Thomas, and flipped both of her wrists. Thomas' gun and Davira's dagger went soaring through the air, colliding with each other, creating a new artistic masterpiece. At least, neither the dagger nor the gun was usable as weapons anymore. "Now play nice, you three."

Davira drew a sword and advanced on Cornelia, only to be grabbed and dragged away by vines from the potted plants in the house. Cornelia turned her attention to Sarina, who was on death's door. Will fired a bolt into the sword, which began to attack Davira of its own accord. Davira shouted in frustration. "I was only supposed to bring the old man to the Alchemist. You two weren't part of the deal."

Will grabbed one of the vines and sent a charge of electricity through it. Davira's eyes rolled up into her head, and she slumped to the floor, unconscious. "Dad, have you got handcuffs?"

Thomas said, "I've got better." He opened a drawer and pulled out a pack of large cable ties. While Will zip-tied Davira's wrists and ankles, Thomas ran over to see to Cornelia and Sarina. Thomas pulled out his cellphone, but Cornelia took it and shook her head.

"See for yourself," she said.

Thomas looked down at his unconscious fiancée, still covered in blood but breathing just fine. There was no wound under the tear in her shirt. "But how?"

Cornelia smiled and said, "I've got the magic touch."

Will said, "Is that real concern I see?"

Thomas didn't turn. "Will, how can you say that?"

"Did you show concern when you left my mother after she sacrificed everything for you?"

"Will…"

"You weren't even sorry for what you did the last time we met. What's she for?"

Cornelia said, "Will, you can't start seeing monsters everywhere."

"I don't. I just know when I find one."

Thomas stood and turned to Will. "I just wanted to start over."

"That's what you told mom." Will took a deep breath. "Cornelia's right. I didn't come here for a family reunion. I came here to protect you from that." Will gestured toward Davira.

Thomas said, "Who is she?"

"My kidnapper."

"Who?" Thomas turned to Will in shock.

Will explained about her two missing months, omitting certain key facts.

"Your mother didn't try to find me?"

"She did. She just couldn't."

Thomas shook his head. "But you could. Will, I can't forget what I just saw. You and your friend just used magic. Your friend used magic to save my fiancée's life. What are you not telling me?"

"What do you think you're entitled to know?"

"But—"

"Sarina's going to be fine, right? You gave up the right to know anything about me a long time ago, and now I'm here to keep your sorry ass safe. I was beginning to wonder why I should bother. Now I know that Sarina was worth saving."

Thomas looked down to the floor. "I'm glad you approve of her."

"Oh, I approve of her. It's you I don't approve of."

Cornelia said, "Jeez, Will, start a bonfire with that bra, why don't you?" Cornelia was looking at Will in awe. "Seriously, Will, in the past few days, you've been really on edge. You have not been pulling any punches."

Will spun towards Cornelia. "And imagine these people were messing with Lillian or your parents. Would you be pulling any punches?"

"Probably not." Cornelia looked at Davira, lying unconscious on the floor. Sarina was just gaining consciousness. She looked a bit like Will's mother, and had a similar disposition. She was a vulnerable person now, and that was probably why Will felt so protective of her, but Sarina was really like Susan, then an unfortunate experience with Thomas in the future would probably make her stronger. Two people; different, but alike. "Will, I have an idea. I'm willing to bet that Davira wouldn't be able to tell the difference between you and the Alchemist."

Will said, "That's worth looking into."

In Heatherfield, today…

Matt hadn't heard from Will in a while, not since she had reappeared from her two month absence. They had talked on and off until the police interview, and then, it seemed Will was too busy to worry about anything except the fate of the universe. Had he gotten used to that? No. He never would. He had, on occasion, helped the Guardians. Now, he sat in his mother's garage with his Gibson SG. It was his favorite guitar, although he preferred to use the Fender Stratocaster when he was on stage. It had a dirtier sound that went with rock and roll much better than the Gibson did.

Now, all he could do was wait for Will to come to him. She hadn't been to the pet shop and she hadn't been to his most recent rehearsal. Still, he was worried. He knew she was in danger, but he couldn't imagine what he could do. So he played the guitar to take his mind off of it. He had tried to play one of the love songs he had written for Will, but that only made him more upset. He couldn't concentrate on any of the band's work. So, he played some old standards by various bands; some Beatles, some Pink Floyd, some Who.

"Matt?" It was Will. There was a distant look in her eyes. "Your mother said I'd find you here."

Matt set his guitar down and stood to meet Will. She put her arms around him, and they held each other as if this was their last day on Earth. Then, to Matt's surprise, she kissed him as passionately as if they would be separated for all time. It was a kiss very unlike Will. There was a deep sorrow and longing in it. When she pulled away, Matt tried to speak, "Will…" but she put a finger to his lips.

"I have something to tell you." Will stared at Matt, through him, around him. Her gaze froze him in time and space. The intensity nearly burned him.

"What is it, Will?"

"My name's not Will."

Matt shook his head. Was this a joke? "What are you talking about?"

"The Will who came back and hugged you and didn't remember the last two months…that's Will. She's the Will you've always known. She's the Will who's memory of you isn't contaminated by two months of torture, betrayal, and misery." The Alchemist explained to Matt that there were two of them, how the other Will was created and who she was now. "I'm here to say goodbye."

"Why? Why not stay? You've escaped and you're safe now."

"No, I'm not safe, none of us are, and I can't stay because this is her place now. That's who I used to be and can never be again. Trust me; you'll want her more than me."

"But you're the Will I fell in love with."

"So is she. That's what I can't get anyone to understand. She's not a copy. She's not someone else. She's Will, and I could stay but that wouldn't be fair to her, because this is the only life she's ever known, and she loves you, Matt. I can imagine how upset she'd be if you chose me over her. I have to give this up. I've got a new purpose and I can leave Heatherfield behind."

"Then tell me why."

"That's what I'm here for. I couldn't tell my mother or Dean. I couldn't tell the girls, and I certainly can't tell the other Will. This is exactly what I'm protecting her from. You're the only I can tell this story to. It begins with the fall of Phobos."


	8. The Alchemist's Tale

The Alchemist had wanted her mother to know that she had raised a daughter destined for greatness. She had wanted her father to feel her disappointment. She wanted a wounded detective to see that even in the darkest recesses, light could shine. As for Matt, she wanted him to understand, to know what she wanted, and most of all to forgive her for what she needed to do. She took him to the beach, far away from anyone they knew, the beach that Matt, Peter, Joel, and Nigel would surf at. At this hour, the only people that would be there would be star-crossed lovers, wandering drunks, and people like the Alchemist and Matt, trying to find a grip on life.

She had promised to keep no secrets from Matt, and she intended to keep that promise. "Remember a few months ago, Phobos had pretended to be Endarno and we had to fight him again to save Kandrakar? Phobos came back. Time is different in the Infinite Void, and Phobos fell, literally for centuries as he drew power from the void around him. Eventually, he became so powerful that he was able to reach out of the void and find solid ground. He returned to the place he knew, Meridian. It was where he was born and raised."

It was a journey that began in a bathroom, and who knew where it would end? Phobos had found a new servant and Will had been drawn by Elyon's cry of distress. Caleb had fled to Earth and then returned to Meridian in hopes of opening the castle to Elyon once again, but thus far, his efforts were in vain, and the Light of Meridian remained on Earth. Orube was forced to return to Earth, though her heartbreak at the death of Cedric had driven her to Kandrakar. Now, after the defeat of John Ludmoore, there would be days before the marriage of Dean Collins to Susan Vandom.

A terrible occurrence had wreathed sorrow over that happy occasion, because when Will was drawn to Meridian, she didn't return. It had been a wakeup call, and when Will had returned with no answers to her absence and the sudden strange behavior of her four friends, it had been a wake-up call for the community. What were these five girls up to? What were they doing that was so dangerous, one of them could disappear and reappear two months later, badly hurt and with no memory, and then all of them keep secrets from the police?

Will had been in Meridian, hopelessly stuck. A bolt had struck her on the back of the head, causing dreadful injury and grievous pain. Yes, Phobos had promised he would take great pleasure in breaking her. When she woke, she was dressed in the clothes she had worn from school. She was lying in mud and had a horrible headache. The back of her head was numb. She reached behind her and felt tender flesh where hair should have been. She winced in pain, feeling the sickly, gooey sensation of the natural secretions that protected open wounds. Looking at her fingers, she saw the viscous substance on her fingers, the pinkish coloring suggesting that blood was mixed with it.

Will looked around. She was in the same prison that Elyon had destroyed those many years ago, when Will and the other Guardians were still learning to understand their powers. She started to get up, to better take in her surroundings. A heavy, spiked object struck her hard across the shoulders. Numbing pain shot down her arm. Her arm wasn't broken, but she was sure her shoulder was.

"Who told you that you could get up, huh?" It was a gruff voice, thick and with a rural accent, with an uneducated slowness to it. Will pictured a bigger, meaner looking Uriah. Looking up, Will saw a guard carrying a mace. It was basically a glorified club. It was shaped like a baseball bat and had a long steel sleeve over it covered with ball shaped spikes. The guard, as it happened, was prettier than Uriah, which wasn't much of a compliment. He was still ugly.

Will said, "A real tough guy, huh? You can't handle a little girl without your club."

The guard dropped the mace, and kicked Will hard so that she was lying on her back. He then stomped her stomach hard, so hard that she spit up blood, and a chunk of something she was pretty sure was supposed to stay inside. She laid there in such pain that she couldn't move. She simply kept coughing up blood. It was an hour before she stopped, and the pain subsided. She thought she would die. Finally, a guard hoisted her to her feet and she threw up. There were walnuts and multicolored sprinkles in her vomitus.

She was carried to a cell where she was violently hurled in. She hit the wall, hard, bounced off the bench and slammed into the floor. She knew she had several broken bones, yet when she stood, everything seemed to work. She could hear the broken bones twisting and moving against each and when she raised her arms, her right arm didn't seem to want to go as high as the other. Indeed, her shoulder was broken.

The pain in her abdomen persisted and pervaded her body. It came in waves and when it happened, a weakness washed over her. She sat and held her arms across her stomach, convinced that the piece she had coughed up was something she couldn't survive without. That had to be what the weakness was. It was an important piece of her insides and the weakness was her impending death. She could feel certain finality in the draining of her limbs. That guard had seriously injured her. It was just as well. She refused to let Phobos have the Heart and if she was going to die the first day, then she was certain she could hold out for that long.

Then to her surprise, Phobos came. "Dear Will, I wanted to see how you were settling in. I am going to leave you to the tender ministrations of our guards for the next few weeks, and then we will see if you are a more compliant guest." He paused taking in her appearance. "Guards, can you not see that this woman is dying? I need her alive. Do not do so much damage." Phobos held his hand out, and Will felt the pain her stomach subside. That horrible weakness left her, but her strength did not return. Phobos did just enough to keep her alive. "I am leaving her to your care. Cause her as much suffering as you might, but if you kill her, I will see to you personally."

Will experienced the worst beatings of her life in those weeks. Fingers had been broken and healed. She had been burnt by fire. She had even been experimentally skewered on blades from time to time. They would usually let her injuries take her to brink of death, and then a healer would see to it that her bones mended and her life-threatening wounds healed so that there was no permanent injury, but never enough to end the pain.

Then came the new arrival. He was Vargas. He had been a wizard from a distant part of Metamoor that had lost his powers, but he had knowledge of the oldest magicks ever devised, which was why Phobos didn't kill him outright. At first, Will thought it had been the prison, for Phobos had cast a spell over it that prevented even the Heart of Kandrakar from performing anything but the most obscure magic. Then Vargas explained to Will. "Honored Guardian, you were born with magic. You have had powers since you could remember. The Heart of Kandrakar was drawn to you for this very reason. You will always have the magic. Even if you lose the Heart, the magic can never be taken from you. True, without the Heart you won't be as powerful. Your power will be dependent upon the might of planet your magic comes from. Still, you will always have your power. Me, I was born mundane, with no power of my own. I had to cultivate it, take it into me.

"In a way, I am a superior magician to you because I had to learn every mechanic and theory from the most basic to the most advanced. You, on the other hand, with new powers cropping up every day, could get away with muddling your way through, and often had no choice but to do just that. The other side of the coin is that you are superior in that you are, and even at your most mundane always will be, more powerful than I could ever hope to be. For me, the danger will always be that I can overdo a spell and break the magic inside of me, and I did just that, trying to rescue Meridian from Phobos. I had done it once before with the same results. I knew I would fail this time, but for the sake of Metamoor, I had to try."

Will had been surprised to hear that. "So you can find the magic in you again, after you've broken it?"

Vargas shook his head. "It's uncommon. It takes dedication bordering on obsession. After breaking his powers, a wizard is almost never able to recover them again. I had the necessary obsession to protect my family, but I doubt I'll be able to do it a third time. That would be without precedent."

"Can you teach me?"

Vargas seemed to consider. "I doubt I would have enough time to teach you any of a real wizard's secrets. I suppose I could teach you a few and if it's possible, maybe teach you a few big ones that you might be able to use to break out of this place. Why not? It would be an honor to be a teacher of a Guardian of Kandrakar."

The first thing he taught her was how to subvert Phobos' magical dampening field. Since his spell forbade all magic that could affect the world, Vargas showed her how magic which didn't change reality could avoid detection. With this, she was able to go into a secret place inside herself. There, she would meet Vargas in an imaginary realm of her creation. She would not even feel the beatings the guards gave her unless they became immediately life-threatening.

"This place," said Vargas, "is in the imagination, so we can stretch time to some extent. In here, we may be able to turn a week into a month, but there is a limit. Remember that when you daydream, time may also tend to speed by."

It was here, Will learned the secrets of this wizard's trade. Vargas' particular specialty was alchemy, since it was so devoted to the five elements.

"Here," said Vargas, "are the secrets to your powers. You see, you are always taught that there are only four elements; earth, air, water, and fire. This is true enough. There are only four. I know from your mind that there is a science in your realm that knows of many more elements, so try to forget about that for these lessons. There are only four elements. Where the fifth one comes in, is that these four elements must combine to create the world and the things in it. For example: earth. Wood and trees are distinctly different from dirt and rock, and yet they are both earth. Water must combine with dirt and rock to make the trees, and so must air in order to cast the light that the trees need, and so does fire to make the light. The dirt is earth, but the tree requires all four elements to exist. This is how you see the fifth element. It is spirit. You can't see it, but it is in the trees. This spirit is visible in nature, but not in ordinary places.

"There is a process that we can use to extract the fifth element from the other four. Do you know of any spirits that exist in the world?"

Will shook her head no.

Vargas scoffed. "Of course you do. Why, one of them is a common bane of society. Beer, whisky, rum, wine; why do you think they're called spirits? Perfume is a spirit. I should think that any girl would know something about perfume. Spirit has a name: quintessence. Do you know what that means?"

Will shook her head again.

"It means, 'perfect form.'"

Will asked, "So how were the five elements formed?"

Vargas said, "I do not have time to give you a formal explanation. There are many texts on this, so you will have to read them. I have a great deal to teach you in a very short period of time. I'm afraid your education won't be a very good one, but it will be better than nothing. I will be brief on this. The first element is water. It is the most important element. It is the most perfect element. When light came down from heaven and struck water, it created the other four elements. This water and this light are represented by two triangles."

He drew triangles in the air. The one on the bottom, the tip of the triangle pointing up, represented water. The triangle of light pointed downward. "When they join together to create the other elements, they are represented thus." He drew the triangles again, this time overlapping so that they formed a six-pointed star. "So, your Guardians of Water and Air represent the creation of the other elements."

Will shrieked in pain, and her imaginary world was lost in blood and horrible pain. A guard, the same guard with the mace who had once forced her to cough up something important, laughed horribly. "I see you're awake now, little girl."

There was a terrible cramp in her back, and she looked down and saw the point of a blade poking out of her abdomen on the right side. She felt sickening sweep of pain as it pulled out and back was free of the intrusion. Healers were instantly there to ensure she did not die of the injury. The healers then said something to guards that made Will sigh with relief. "She must have two day's rest."

"Fine," said the guard, "we'll thrash her while she sleeps."

"You don't understand. We almost couldn't save her. If she doesn't have a reprieve from your torture, she will die and you remember what Prince Phobos said. Her food portions are to be doubled for the next two days. Only fresh water is to be allowed and her allowance is to be doubled as well, and she must not be abused."

The memory of Phobos' promise was more than enough to make the guards obey. Will wasn't bothered for two whole days, and she got the food and fresh water that had been ordered. She and Vargas took full advantage of that unexpected blessing. She didn't sleep, for the magic that took her to her secret place where she could learn from Vargas provided all of the benefits of sleep. She learned more from Vargas than she ever expected to in those two days.

Another week passed. The guards were a bit more careful not to overdo it, but she was still ragged. Chunks of flesh hung down from behind her clothing and she looked like a creature from a horror film. This could not be allowed to last. "Vargas, the division; you said it could be done even with Phobos' dampening field."

"Yes, you do not change reality, simply create a new one."

Vargas did everything he could to dissuade her of her plan, but she would not relent. She had to save the Heart, and she had to get back to the Guardians. It was the only chance to defeat Phobos. Two months had passed and the guards promised that Phobos was coming.

"Honored Guardian, I ask again that you reconsider your plan."

"Why?" said Will, defiant and full of brass.

"You said yourself that you already created an astral drop. You cannot create another. What you must create will be literally you in every way, down to the last detail. She won't be a copy. She would be you."

"Why are you so concerned? You told me about the magic."

"Yes, but it remains that you may not possess the magic needed. You're not making a copy. You are literally dividing reality. After this there will always be two of you, and if you are not strong enough, it will destroy you. I merely say this because there can be no happy ending for you. If you succeed, then you will be responsible for the pain and suffering of two people, and if you fail then you shall cease to exist."

"But it's my only choice. The Guardians need a Keeper to lead them, and if I don't do something now, Phobos will possess the Heart. I can feel it, Vargas. He's getting to me. I promised him he'd never break me, but now I'm not sure I can keep that promise."

"Very well, then. Choose the point in time where you will make your separation. The other you will remember everything up until that point."

Will closed her eyes and envisioned it very carefully. "I choose the moment before my capture. I wish her to have no memory of this nightmare."

"You will leave her with a mystery, for she will bear all of your wounds."

"She'll heal and she'll have none of the sorrow to go with them."

Vargas said, "Then do this, Guardian. Concentrate on the Heart. Will it to become part of you and will it to divide its essence to the very core."

"Divide the Heart?"

"She will carry the Heart of Kandrakar, and you will carry that part of it that remains with all Keepers of the Heart."

Will did as she was instructed. A mirror image faded into existence. Its posture and its silhouette were identical to Will. It wasn't born like an astral drop, and she got the sense that it came from a very long way away, a place so distant, it was unreachable by any means except by the enchanted wish of a desperate woman. She solidified and standing on either side of the cell doors were exact twins of Will Vandom.

The new Will looked up and observed her surroundings with panic. "What's going on. Who…" she got a look at herself. "You're me."

"Not anymore. Now you're me."

Will narrowed her eyes and said, "I have to save you. I have to get you out of here."

"You can't. Phobos is preventing the Heart from helping us escape. We can't go together. You have to go alone. Take the Heart of Kandrakar and lead the Guardians. Stop Phobos." There was the clang of a door off in the distance. "Go now. I'm just a memory."

"But…"

Vargas said, "Do as she says, child or this will all be for naught."

Will took one more look at the Heart in her hands and left. The Will who remained behind waited for her captors to come. Surely, they did, and Phobos was right behind them. Four guards escorted him and he stood before Will's cell, a look of pure evil on his face. "Will," he said, "have you had a change of heart yet?"

"No, and judging by the smell, I can tell you haven't had a change of bath soap, either."

Phobos smiled, seemed even amused by the wisecrack. He held out his hand, and bolts of electrical flew out and struck Will. Rather than fly against the wall, she stood, and she could move, held by the electrical voltage as she grounded against a mud floor. She shuddered and Phobos held her there. With her eyes rolling up, seemingly unseeing, she looked like a corpse suspended in place. Her ears blackened and blood came out of them. There was a ringing and the sensation of turning inside out. She felt as if she were preparing to vomit her insides. After what seemed an eternity, Phobos released her, and she fell to the floor, shuddering, smoke rising from her body.

Phobos stepped through the door, as if it wasn't there, or as if he wasn't there, and he approached Will. He kneeled beside her and said, "You can end this, you know. Just give me the Heart of Kandrakar."

Will continued to writhe upon the floor, still able to feel the electrical arcing. It was as though a thousand red hot knives were stabbing her all over the body. She said, "Daoo taat ubun. Ah…ah…"

"I didn't catch that?"

It took an effort, but Will said, "I said, 'Do…that…again.'" She coughed and could speak more clearly. "I got a charge out of it."

Phobos smiled and said, "It seems you intend that your jokes should be the end of you." He laid both hands upon her and she shuddered with electrical arcing again. He didn't force her to endure it for nearly as long, and she was grateful for the end. "That's enough of that."

Will smiled and said, "Shocking."

Phobos stood and screamed, "Blast you, girl! Give me the Heart! Have I not promised you an end to this? Have I not promised you riches? Have I not promised you anything you desired, if only you would give me that damned crystal?"

Will reached up and she gave him the Heart. Phobos took it greedily. "Finally, you've come to your senses, but…what's this?" He looked at the Heart and his fury became tangible. "It has all of the power of the Heart of Kandrakar, but it is useless to me! It is a copy. It can only be used by a true Keeper." He rounded on her and hurled the jewel at her. It struck her in the head leaving a gash. "Where is the Heart?"

"It's the only one I have."

"I can always rip out the one in your chest."

Will smiled. Yes, Phobos was prepared to lose the Heart. To have her heart torn from her chest wouldn't be nearly as painful as all she had endured thus far. She was scared. She didn't want to die, and she wanted the pain to stop. More than anything, though she didn't want to die.

"You could, or you could make a deal with me."

"What can you offer me?"

"I may only carry the Star of Cassidy, but it's still the Heart of Kandrakar. You have two Hearts. I have one. We would need four more. I would have to possess three and you an additional one. Once we each carry three Hearts, I can use the Star of Cassidy to create the Seventh Heart."

Phobos spun around, his rage now replaced by glee and he hauled the Guardian to his feet. "You can do this?"

"It's still the Heart of Kandrakar. It can do the job."

Vargas shouted, "No Guardian! You don't know what you're doing! You're promising the greatest destructive force in all of the Infinite Realms!"

There was a manic glee in Phobos' eye. Vargas had just confirmed what Will was saying. "Silence him," said Phobos.

"Don't kill him," said Will.

"Very well. Don't kill him, just shut him up. We can make a deal here and now."

"I don't trust you. If you'll swear on the Hearts you carry now, I'll keep the deal."

"Trust is a mere technicality. I swear to all of your terms on the Heart of Ulnra and the Light of Meridian."

"I swear to keep my word on the Heart of Kandrakar and the Star of Cassidy."

Phobos smiled and said, "Welcome to my service, Will."

"No, I'm the Alchemist, and we've made a deal. We'll have more power than those girls can ever dream of."

Phobos growled. "I want the Heart of Kandrakar."

"Trust me, the Star of Cassidy and the Heart of Kandrakar will equal one Heart too many. I know what I'm doing."

"You had better." Phobos ordered the Healers to see to her. From that point on, the Alchemist spent her time in the palace. She had arranged for Vargas to come with her. Once she explained to him what she planned to do with Phobos, he agreed to continue teaching. They kept going to that secret place so that they could extend their perception of time and she could learn more. Through him, she learned of the Shadow Heart, a dark Heart that embodied the dark nature of Kandrakar. She also learned that some planets, deep within their core, formed crystals that contained all five elements and the power of the world, while other worlds, kept their power on in one bloodline of the inhabitants. These were also Hearts and the Alchemist found another on the forest planet of Zambala. Then the time came when Will returned with Cornelia, and surprisingly, Orube.

She defeated Phobos and took Davira as her servant, as she had promised Vargas, but she had no intention of giving up this power, and intended to use it to make the universe a place she wished it to be.

"Don't you see what I can do, Vargas? I can keep people like Phobos from ever hurting anyone again."

Vargas nodded sadly. "You have great power. I fear you are not wise enough to use it. You are a good woman, but I will not teach you as long as you use your power for this. I would have thought you might have learned something from Nerissa. When you've come to your senses, come see me then." He left and the Alchemist did nothing to stop him.

"Come Davira, we're going to Earth."

Matt sat and regarded the Alchemist for a long time. She didn't bear the scars of her story, but he knew she told the truth, for he had seen the injuries on the other Will.

"Well," said the Alchemist, "say something."

Matt continued to regard her and said, "That Vargas sounds like one smart dude. You should listen to him."

Anger flashed behind the Alchemist's eyes. "You don't understand at all."

"I understand a lot better than you think. Did you even listen to half of what you told me? Someone who's been through what you've been through needs some love more than anyone. Will, you're forgetting who your friends are. Making them your enemies is not the answer, and I doubt they'll let you."

The Alchemist stood and said, "I've said what I've come to say."

Matt jumped up and grabbed the Alchemist under the arm and spun her around to face him. "Will, what are you thinking? Why on Earth would ever imagine that I would just give up on you, even if you asked me to?"

"Matt, there's something important that I have to do. People are suffering and dying."

"People suffer and die every day. Try imagining a world without death for a second. Think of all of those people for millions of years just hanging around."

"I don't mean to stop death. I just want to put an end to the suffering and misery. I want an end to despair. I want no more pain."

Pain was as essential to the world as joy, but Matt could think of no way to say that to someone who'd suffered as much pain as the Alchemist had. She had gone through too much, far too much; so much that could no longer see how essential it was. She felt she had something to do, and until she could recover that part of her soul that Phobos had taken from her, she wouldn't stop. Matt was convinced that that missing part of her soul could be found in the love her friends and family could give her and he told her as much.

"Matt, I want so desperately to believe that love can solve all of the problems of the universe, but it can't. There's only one solution, and I have it, and I'm going to use it. Children have a right to grow up safe. Mothers have a right not to be afraid. You have a right to a happiness that I just can't give you anymore." The conversation was over, and she vanished in a burst of light.

Now, Matt realized that being too selfless could be a very bad, very selfish thing. The Alchemist was being selfish and he couldn't figure out how to make her see it. He certainly didn't want to say it to someone so emotionally scarred. Still, he now knew what drove her, and now he could save her. He was sure of it.


	9. Heroes and Cowards

Davira woke with a splitting headache. Again, her task had been encumbered by the Guardians Will and Cornelia, just as she had removed that woman. Looking around, she was in the home of that Thomas Vandom. There was blood where the woman had fallen, but she was gone. Davira was alone, except for the Alchemist. Why was she here? She had delegated this task to Davira. Yet here she was, dressed in the black she favored when not wearing her robes.

"Alchemist, why are you here?" Davira almost immediately wished she hadn't asked.

The Alchemist's eyes turned stormy as her hazel eyes darkened to a deeper shade of brown, almost black. "That's an excellent question, Davira. Why am I here? Why could you not simply bring Thomas Vandom to me? Was that so difficult?"

"Do not berate for this. Your alter ego anticipated that you would send me for him."

The Alchemist's eyes flashed. "Anticipated?"

"She is you, after all."

The Alchemist stood and paced as Davira had seen her do so often. "I thought that I had given you enough power to resist the Guardians."

"I believe I may have overly upset them. I mortally wounded a human woman, and they fought rather bitterly."

"Is that where all that blood came from? This is a fine turn of events. I'll have to track him down myself, now."

"Is he truly that important to your schemes? You want to make daddy proud? Can it not wait until you've accomplished your goals? You already have your mother."

The Alchemist spun around, the look on her face peculiar.

Davira gave her a lopsided smile and spoke in her most pathetically simpering voice, "Of course, if you must chase him down, I would be happy to return to the carnival and look after things. Your mother knows all of the best movies to watch. It'll be great fun."

The Alchemist stared at Davira with such intensity her gaze might have burned her. "At the carnival; the old abandoned carnival?"

For a moment, Davira was confused. "Of course, where else would…" Then, confusion melted away and comprehension dawned. "You're not the Alchemist." Then there was a brilliant flash of light and blackness took her once more. As she lost herself to the oblivion of unconsciousness, she decided that she was going to have to renegotiate her job description. She was simply getting hit in the head way too many times.

When she woke again, she was bound and lying on a sofa. Several people were watching her eagerly; Queen Elyon, all five guardians, some mildly attractive, scraggly boy, and that Basiliade huntress. "Lovely, all five Guardians are here, plus their pet kitten." Appropriately, Orube hissed. "I hope she's properly litter trained."

Orube stood to approach, but Will put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back down. "She's just baiting you, Orube. That's exactly the reaction she wants." Will regarded Davira closely. "Now, my secret has been revealed to my whole family, thanks exclusively to you. Davira, I have never killed deliberately, but in your case, it's taking a lot of restraint."

"So, why haven't you gone off to rescue your mother?"

"We have another little problem. A certain Jorge Alvarez has gone missing."

"Don't look at me. I'm just the hired help."

Irma smirked and said, "And you can't stand it, can you? You used to be the ruler of an entire planet and then they kicked you off like a football. After that, you played second fiddle to Phobos, and now you're second fiddle to the Alchemist."

Davira said nothing. Will, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin tried to admonish her, but Irma was on a role.

"I call it Karma. She was a lousy ruler, and now she's a lousy assistant. She's a loser with a capital 'L'."

Davira scowled and said, "Hmph, the Water Guardian speaks with great authority. I suspect she has a firsthand understanding of this. If we were to ask a certain 'Martin', what might he say about the matter?"

Cornelia said, "The mind reading tricks won't work on us. We know all about telepathy. You can't use our thoughts against us."

Davira smiled. "At least I didn't get shot in the ass. I notice you're the only one standing. I'm sorry, is that a tender subject?"

Will sat passively, her patience clearly disturbing to the others around her. Davira didn't miss it and realized that the Keeper of the Heart believed that she held the winning hand. Will said, "You gave the Heart of your world to Phobos and yet you still think you have power beyond any of us. I'd say that's arrogant."

"Yes, a mere shadow would delude itself into thinking it had the power of flesh and blood, but at the end of the day, what are you really? You're nothing more than an image in the mirror." That got to her. The pain and uncertainty flashed clearly across Will's face.

Will's face became a mask once more. "We were discussing Jorge Alvarez. Where is he?"

"And what would a copy care?"

Will smiled. "Davira, I am dangerously close to leaving you alone with Orube."

"A copy that was discarded like a piece of trash!"

The look on Will's face was inscrutable. She had the power to destroy Davira, and it was certain that she was strongly considering using it. All eyes were on her. Will turned to Orube. "Try not to stain up the upholstery."

Orube was a huntress of Basiliade, trained as a chosen one in the Fortress of Light in Kandrakar, and was famous for her short temper. As the girls stood to leave, Orube smiled sinisterly, looking particularly feral.

Davira said, "The Alchemist sent him back in time. She sent him to meet you when you first gained your powers. She said she was giving him the peace of mind he had spent his whole life searching for."

Everyone stopped. Will smiled and said, "Sorry, Orube, maybe next time." Orube looked genuinely disappointed. Will looked at Davira and said, "Do you know anything else about it?"

"The Alchemist said she would bring him back when the time was right. That's all I know of it, I swear."

Will nodded. "You've told me something about myself, now let me tell you something. You're pathetic. Your loyalty is as phony as you are. You have no honor or decency. Every aspect of you is for sale and no fee is too small. You preach ruthlessness and purity, and you're too much of a coward to practice it. You get kicks out terrorizing your prey and humiliating them in front of as wide an audience as possible. You're the classic bully. They talk big and accomplish nothing. They are so fixated on what's wrong with everyone else that they can't see that they are the biggest failures of all. Or do you have any other explanation for how you lost an entire planet and then couldn't get a better job than a simple errand girl?"

Davira had felt immense anger at what Will was saying. At first, she thought Will might simply paying her back for her insults, but then her last sentence had struck her in the heart. She could think of nothing to say, no jibe to counter with, and Will's gaze was as hard as any soldier Davira had ever known.

Will said, "You're lucky you didn't manage to kill Sarina, otherwise I wouldn't be sending you to Kandrakar."

"Kandrakar?" said Davira. "You can't honestly mean to send me to the Tower of Mist?" Will said nothing, and held out the Heart of Kandrakar by way of answer. "No!" There was no debate. Davira found herself facing the Oracle, Endarno, and Yan Lin. That was all for Davira.

Irma said, "Well, I guess we don't have to worry about Detective Alvarez anymore."

Taranee elbowed Irma's ribs. "Irma!"

"What? At least we know he's safe."

Hay Lin said, "So how do we plan on getting him back?"

Will said, "The Heart will show us." She held the Heart out and it seemed to expand, encompassing them.

Heatherfield, five years ago…

These girls sure could pack away the food. Even the fashion queen, Cornelia was unconcerned about the greasy calories she was putting away. Plus, they had all ordered extra-large milk shakes. They also seemed to like to play with their abilities. Hay Lin levitated a spoon with her power over air. Cornelia brought a dying plant back to life on the diner's counter. The Sheffield Academy school bully, Uriah had come in and started trouble with the patrons, but with a mischievous glance from Irma, water puddled under his feet and he slammed headfirst into the wastebasket.

Will harshly whispered, "Irma!"

Irma rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know, 'responsible use of powers,' blah, blah, 'Council of Kandrakar,' blah, blah, 'peace and harmony and furry, fluffy bunnies.' I'm sorry; Uriah looked like an evil slug from Metamoor."

"These are powers most adults can't handle," said Will. "We have to stop acting like children."

"We are children."

Hay Lin said, "When people become adults they put away childish things, but think about it? What kind of adult could you be if you put away the things that made you an adult? It was a harmless prank, Will, and one well deserved."

Will said, "I see your point, Hey-Hay, but pranks don't always end up being harmless. Play is one thing, but I'm going to have to insist—"

"Okay, okay!" said Irma. "The floor's dry."

Will turned to Alvarez. "So, what are you going to do now that you know our secret?"

Alvarez shrugged. "What can I do? I'm trapped five years in the past. Nobody would ever believe any of this anyway." He ate his fries automatically, hardly noticing them. "What is it you're expected to do? Why are children given this responsibility?"

Taranee said, "We keep the Veil closed. It's our job to make sure the evils of the Infinite Realms don't overflow into each other."

"But why a bunch of twelve-year-olds?"

Cornelia said, "We don't know. Nobody knows. The one that makes the choice is in no position to explain why."

Will said, "It's the only straight answer we've ever gotten. Nobody knows why a Guardian is chosen. All anybody knows is that we are. We can choose not to accept the responsibility. We can choose to stop being Guardians, and if we do, new ones will be chosen, but until we do, we are the Guardians."

"So who chooses you?" asked Alvarez, thoroughly intrigued.

Will held out the pendant. "The Heart of Kandrakar; it chooses us, and the Oracle, upon realizing that choice, makes sure we come together at the point on Earth where the five elements are at their strongest. The Oracle doesn't know why either. He simply knows that we have been chosen and it is his job to make sure we are where we need to be."

Taranee said, "Maybe it's because we're all tight like this." Taranee crossed her fingers.

Irma said, "I still think it's because we're the most awesome babes on the planet."

Cornelia raised an eyebrow. "Keep dreaming, Fish-Lips."

Irma gave Cornelia a lopsided smile. "At least my head doesn't double as a floatation device."

Cornelia actually growled. Alvarez couldn't help but laugh. In the time he had spent investigating these girls, he had discovered that Cornelia and Irma had brought bickering to an art form.

Will said, "So much for the 'tight like that' theory."

Cornelia smiled and said, "Thank goodness for that. If I had rocks in my head, I'd sink like you."

Will said, "And that's enough of that."

Irma said, "Hey, come on. We're getting off some pretty good ones."

Alvarez said, "So you girls are straight up about this? The highest power in the universe literally chose you to maintain balance and harmony?"

"Straight up," said Hay Lin.

"A job like that comes with enemies."

"It also comes with the power to defend ourselves from them," said Will. "If we're still Guardians five years from now, I guarantee we're on top of our game."

"And you still got nailed."

"It's the risk we take, same as you."

"Risks children shouldn't have to take."

Will brought her voice down low so that it wouldn't carry. "And who else is there? Where will you be when Phobos invades Earth? If you try to fight, what will you do when he waves you aside with a hand? Better yet, when Phobos invades, what will you do when you find out that his soldiers are accompanied by millions of women and children who have been tricked into thinking that by coming here, they'll be free of that tyrant? Refugees from another planet; what do you do with them? How do you send them back? Imagine little children hiding in this world with nowhere to go. They don't look human. They're not human. They can't turn to anyone for help. They are lost and alone. Meanwhile you're fighting an army with an inhumanly powerful creature commanding them. All he wants is power and he doesn't care who dies for it. Now imagine that the only people even remotely capable of stopping it from happening are five young girls who don't even understand why they're only ones who can. Now imagine you're one of us. Can you just stand by and let it happen when you know you have the power to make a difference? Who are you to tell us it's not our risk?"

"You're not the ones I'm questioning. It's whoever put you in this position I have a problem with. Nobody has any good reason to make a kid fight a war."

"Like I said, nobody is making us. They just offered the opportunity, but we've made the choice."

Alvarez wasn't sure what else to say. There was no way he could agree with this. Whatever these girls felt, believed, or could even do, all he could see were children that should be in school, going to concerts, sneaking off on dates and telling their parents they were studying. Then he remembered that hardened stare of a seventeen-year-old Will who was a very different person from the one in front of him now, and he could easily picture her saying the exact same thing. Perhaps that had been the deciding factor in their selection; they had a predisposition toward heroics that most grown men couldn't claim.

Will wasn't the typical shy loner. She always took the lead with an authority that complete strangers could respect. Hay Lin was wise beyond her years, yet it was hard to see with her propensity for writing on herself, and making peculiar statements, and still, she would always surprise people with her uncannily appropriate fortune cookie wisdom. Taranee was the consummate brain trust of the group, keeping straight A's at all times, never questioning that which she reads (though Hay Lin would likely caution her against such an absolute trust in the knowledge of schools and books). Irma, for her smart-alecky attitude, seemed completely unconcerned with her own wellbeing, and yet obsessed with the welfare of those around her.

Cornelia…what could Alvarez observe about Cornelia? She was the embodiment of power. Every bit the fashion mall brat, if one were to accuse her of being as shallow as the typical fashionista, it would be a mistake. One did not cross this young lady lightly. Indeed, Alvarez was convinced that even the most powerful leaders of the world would sorely regret getting on Cornelia's bad side. If Will was the leader of the pack, Cornelia was the glue that held it together.

They all had one thing in common. Every one of them would stick up for the underdog without a thought for themselves. There were simply too many stories about these girls. It was likely that not even they were aware of the profound impact they had on Heatherfield. Even in his own time, they would likely never believe it, but during his investigation, he would encounter complete strangers who had stories espousing the heroics and virtuous deeds of these young girls, whether they were defending people from the school bully or exposing a kidnapper or even preventing acts of vandalism. Maybe, just maybe, they were right. Maybe Alvarez had no business telling them what risks they were entitled to take.

Alvarez paid the bill and part of the tip (Cornelia thought it was too small). As they walked, Will said, "Honestly, I don't what we should do or who we can even consult. I almost think the whole reason you're here is so you can meet us now, while we're still figuring things out."

Alvarez said, "I can't figure out anything."

"Maybe you should, I don't know, tell us what we're like."

So Alvarez told them what had just been going through his mind. "You're so busy running around you don't seem to notice, but people all over town know you. They talk about all the things you've done for the town. You're not so different from how you are now. You're still inseparable. Of course, everyone worries about you. You're so secretive. You're grades are uneven. If they only knew, right? Then came Will's kidnapping. She made world news. She was missing for two months without a trace. She comes back looking like she's been tortured and she can't remember a thing. Then she heals within days. Life for her is business as usual and nobody understands it. They're worried you're into something too big for you to handle."

Irma said, "Wow, that's how I feel half the time." Her effort earned her an elbow from Hay Lin.

Cornelia said, "I really think we should be getting home."

"Nah, our astral drops have it covered."

Taranee said, "Oh come on guys, I'm exhausted. I've been up longer than any of you, and I haven't been home in almost a week."

"A week?" asked Alvarez.

"Long story."

During their journey, they turned down an alleyway, apparently a shortcut on the way to Cornelia's home. Alvarez might have said something except that they were in a fairly safe part of town. If they had been paying full attention, they might have noticed that the alley had vanished, but as it was, they didn't notice anything until the sun went out. Somehow, they found themselves in a city quite unlike Heatherfield, distressed Tudors and other medieval Dutch type buildings surrounding them.

"We're in Meridian?" said Irma. "Did anybody see that coming?"

Cornelia looked around, nervous. "We can't be caught here with our wings folded."

Will needed no prompting, and ordered, "Guardians unite."

The transformation was astonishing as raw energy entered each of their bodies. Alvarez could only watch, mesmerized as the girls glowed with ethereal energy and literally grew. They were older, taller, and their presence was striking. Still, Alvarez couldn't help but think that they looked like a group of magic fairies.

Will said, "Keep an eye out for trouble. Cedric wasn't too happy the last time we met."

A deep voice rumbled behind them. "Cedric is the least of your concerns."

They all spun around. Irma said, "Hey, does that count as trouble?"

Alvarez stumbled backwards as a large, apelike man charged riding a green rhinoceros. The Guardians scattered and Cornelia slammed into Alvarez, knocking him clear of the battlefield. He hadn't been tackled like that since college football. These girls were significantly stronger than they looked. Alvarez found himself in a corner and Cornelia turned and put herself between Alvarez and the attacker. Slamming the palm of her hand into the ground, she caused enormous boulders to jut up and slam into the advancing ape man and rhino.

The boulders shattered like glass, not even slowing the mounted attacker. Vines shot out of either side of the wall beside Alvarez and sped forward, thickening and balling up into a pair of cudgels, two giant fists striking the attacker and his steed, this time both of them thrown backward. The attacker landed on a frozen ice puddle obviously created by Irma and Hay Lin.

"Hey, Frost," said Irma, "I hope you can skate."

Frost drew and axe and swung hard into the ice, using it as a pickax, immediately halting his momentum. Standing, he seemed surprisingly stable on the ice. Will dashed forward on a reckless collision course. Frost swung his axe on a trajectory that would have cleaved the girl in two. She ducked backwards, the axe passing over her, and fell back, sliding underneath, and firing lightening into him. It obviously hurt him but didn't slow him down.

Guards appeared from every corner, attacking the Guardians they moment they saw them. The girls held their own, but with a limited understanding of their powers, they were close to being overwhelmed. The ground beneath Alvarez fell out and there didn't seem to be an end to his descent. Will's voice said, "I think that's enough. They can fight them off just fine, but if they're worrying about you, they may be captured."

There she was standing in the middle of a white fog, the Will that Alvarez had last faced in his own time. He said, "Why did you send me here?"

"I needed you to see who we are. I needed you to understand that you can't help us. You can't help us, but we can help you. You understand, right? You understand what we do, what we have to do, and why we have to keep it secret. Imagine this power in the hands of greedy corporations or corrupt governments. That's why we need to protect it with everything we have. Interpol has already tried to steal our powers for their own profit."

"What about you? What's all of that stuff about two of you?"

"That's how I saved the Heart of Kandrakar and the Guardians. Whatever happened to me, I made sure there was a Will to lead the Guardians, but when it came down to it, I couldn't make the sacrifice. There shouldn't have been two of us, but I was too afraid to die."

"What? Nobody can blame you for that."

"I can. Will can. If I had just had the courage to finish what I started, Davira never would have attacked you, and the other Will wouldn't be questioning who she is. She never would have known that it happened. Now I have to see this through to the end, not just for me, or for you, or for Earth, but for her."

"See what through?"

"I have a gift for you. When the fog clears, you'll be back in Heatherfield in your own time. Go to your office and wait. You won't be disappointed."

"See what through?"

"You know too much already. What you don't know has to stay secret. You aren't ready for it. Nobody on Earth is. You'll never meet me again. Don't ask her about my disappearance anymore. She really doesn't know."

"Then you tell me, please."

But the Alchemist had literally turned into the fog, and then the fog cleared and he was sitting in his car outside of Dean Collins' apartment.

At Mrs. Rudolph's house, Will put the Heart of Kandrakar back and the girls all looked at each other. Elyon, of course, wouldn't know what incident they had seen in the Heart. The problem was, neither did anyone else.

Hay Lin said, "Was that Detective Alvarez with us five years ago?"

Cornelia said, "It sure looked like it."

Irma said, "Okay, does anyone remember that happening?"

Taranee said, "You mean us walking through a portal with a big bald cop that looks like an ex-football player and throwing down with Frost? Definitely doesn't ring a bell."

Elyon said, "The way he just vanished; it looked like transposition."

Will said, "That would be the Alchemist's doing. I hope he's okay." She looked to Orube. "You go to the carnival first. Try not to be seen."

Orube said, "I don't have to try."

Will nodded and turned to Matt. "Are you sure about this?"

Matt nodded solemnly. "Completely. I know this will work."

"What does the band think?"

"I just told them I thought the vibes in the place might help inspire us."

Will nodded. "Then we have our game plan."


	10. Behind the Mirror

Time was up…

…And down, and sideways, and inside out.

Focusing into the Star of Cassidy, the Alchemist's essence flowed through the Seventh Heart. She had to admit, until this moment, she hadn't been certain she could withstand it. She had thought carefully about what her first decision should be. One did not simply rearrange existence without careful planning. First, she decided what part of her world should continue to exist into the new future. Her family, of course, including Thomas and his new future wife should come. The families of the other Guardians could not be simply left in a dying universe.

She was surrounded by what was left of the funhouse. Into the mirrors she delved. There were many worlds in the mirrors; far more than any could imagine. Truly, the realms were infinite. There were infinite Earths and infinite Metamoors and even infinite Kandrakars and infinite Basiliades. It was with this sight that she began to see the inherent flaws in the universe. There was infinite redundancy, a universe that couldn't reconcile the many changes that went through it and so created infinite possible outcomes to infinite scenarios.

The Alchemist would change all of that. She would put an end to the spiraling redundancy. She would put an end to the instability that led to catastrophe that led to uncertainty that led to fear, and anguish. Most importantly she would neuter those who abused power by taking power away. First, the universe would have to reimagined, re-envisioned. The Alchemist would reimagine the universe. Her mother would bear witness.

Speaking of her mother, the Alchemist turned to Susan. "You're awfully quiet."

Susan shook her head. "What do I say, to any of this? Will, you're talking about a concept so vast I can't fathom it. I could never understand. Neither can you. How can you even pretend to understand the intricacies of the universe?"

"By making small changes that move the whole, I can affect the universe on every level."

"But should you?"

"Mom, do you know how fragile the universe really is? A strong wind is enough to scatter it." The mirrors seemed to expand until the room was no longer a room. It was like being in a planetarium, surrounded by stars and galaxies. "Scientists talk about the creative forces of gravity and dark matter, concepts created by their imaginations, but in reality, concepts far too vast to comprehend, especially for those with such a narrow scope of understanding as the scientists that came up with the concepts."

"'Narrow scope of understanding'?"

"They may have had tremendous imagination, but they are only able to subscribe to those concepts of reality they have formulated, too closed-minded to accept any alternative. Of course, they would have you believe that in the beginning, there was nothing, then it exploded and then there was something. The reality is much more elegant. The universe is a tapestry, a weaving that never ceases. Tapestries don't begin by something so crude as an explosion. They begin with a thread. It's a single line of yarn, or perhaps the word filament would be more appropriate, that wends its way around until that line becomes a fabric. The universe is weaved on a loom.

"That thread holds together more than the planets and the stars. Gravity and dark matter are opposites, creating a pretty balance that keeps the wheel of the loom spinning. It holds everything in nature together, even the nature of what we are. You can change the shape of the tapestry. Do you see them mother? The threads dangling from the tapestry?" The Alchemist reached up into the stars and indeed, there were threads dangling down. "If I pull one, the weaver must draw the tapestry together to compensate for the missing thread, but the damage will be done.

"The unraveling of the tapestry will begin. Once the universe begins to unravel, there is nothing that can stop it except its own momentum, and when that happens, I pull another thread to keep the process going. I'm not stupid. I know that once I begin, the process can't be controlled. That's why instead of reshaping this universe, I intend to simply disassemble it and make anew. I intend to remake the universe and put an end to the evil that infests it. Like so." She pulled a thread.

Susan couldn't see anything unravel, but everything certainly changed. "Will, don't you see that this is beyond you too? Don't you see that you can't understand any more than those scientists can? In the end, you're human and there's a limit to what you can know. You're demonstration here is fine, but you're talking about real people. I'm sure your theory is perfectly reasonable, but in practice, I think you're going to find that you're out of your element."

The Alchemist turned with a diffident expression on her face. "Demonstration? This is no demonstration. This is real, and I've already begun."

Susan's eyes widened in shock and panic. "You mean you've already—you've—you're—the universe—everything—right now?"

"Right now."

"But what about our home; what about our friends, the school, the town?"

"They'll still be there. Granted, many things will have changed."

Susan walked around to face the Alchemist directly and said, "Will, listen to me, please. I know you're hurting. I know you feel alone and lost. Sweetheart, I'm asking you to take a step back. Think about what you're doing. Please, for me."

The Alchemist looked deep into her mother. What she saw, Susan couldn't imagine. The Alchemist said, "It will be some before the effects of what I've already done are fully known. There's no point in pulling another thread yet. I think we have plenty of time for reflection."

Susan reached up and cupped her daughter's cheeks in her hands. "Will, please, I'm begging you. Don't do this."

"Don't do what? I see what's wrong with the world. Can't you?"

"Will, it's when people try to fix it that something goes wrong."

"Or maybe nobody's had the chance to do right."

The universe truly was fragile, and a single thread had the power unravel many things. A single thread may not have caught the notice of ordinary mortal beings; it was certainly felt in Kandrakar as storm clouds brewed over the Fortress of Light. A deep rumble of thunder could be felt through the fortress. The Oracle continued to meditate and carefully examined the precipice that represented an unknown future.

A similar storm brewed on each and every one of the Infinite Realms at that point in which the five elements came together. On Earth, the Storm brewed over Heatherfield. On Basiliade, it brewed over the Temple of the Crimson Dawn. On Metamoor, it brewed over Meridian.

"What does it mean?" asked Tibor.

The Oracle did not live his meditation or his pose. "It means that the universe is resisting change. When opposing forces collide, at the front a storm is ever the result."

Endarno said, "The Alchemist will tear this universe down."

"She very well may."

"Is there nothing you could do?" asked Tibor

"There are many things I could do, but I will not. It is the Guardians' task."

"Even if we are destroyed?"

"If that is our fate. For now, there is only one thing I will do. I will watch."

Time was the beginning. It began to drain from the universe. Little bits of history began to disappear, now never having existed. So who would notice? If it never happened, who would remember it? Who would care? Would it matter? The effects of a single thread were small, but in their own way catastrophic. After time was space. Matter began to bleed from the universe, but again, who would care? If the universe was shrinking and all of the rulers were shrinking with it, would anyone notice?

Ordinary people didn't notice and this was the thing that the Alchemist depending on. She would rip the world apart around them and they would carry on with everyday life as if nothing had happened. That disconnection was the nature of reality. Indeed, reality fed upon it. When a tree fell in the woods, the other trees were unconcerned. It meant more food for them.

The conditions got worse on the worlds, but what did it matter? Hadn't been getting worse for years? They still showed news clips of Hurricane Katrina. Florida still hadn't recovered from the devastation of Hurricane Andrew. It seemed that major earthquakes hit Asia on a yearly basis. If the universe were destroyed, would anybody notice? No, nobody would notice. It was happening right now and nobody noticed or even cared.

As the single thread unraveled itself from the rest of the tapestry of the universe, the other threads around it tightened and pulled to compensate, a phenomenon that many women would call a run. It was a split in the fabric. Matter, gravity, and time spilled into that split like a river flowing down the lowest point.

Not only did things disappear, but things appeared that hadn't existed for eons. Monsters that once terrorized the universe, that travelled between spaces, that lived in time, wandered once more. One in particular, an ancient beast of vast intelligence, sensed the will of the Alchemist, felt her torment and began to feed upon her anguish. Thus, the Alchemist's sorrow and misery deepened. The more she fought, the rawer her emotions became.

The being fueled the Alchemist's doubts and fears. It told her that there was no need to wait. Pull another thread now. The end result would be the same. Indeed, why pull one? Pull them all. The Alchemist looked up at the threads of reality. Could she really pull them all now? No, that didn't seem right. It had to be done in processes. The being shoved those concerns aside. What did it matter the process so long as the universe was unraveled and ready to make anew? That seemed to make sense. As she reached to pull another thread, an energy blast hit her on the wrist as a shout rent the air.

"No!" The shout came from Orube. The Alchemist may not have perceived the entity influencing her, Susan couldn't perceive it, but Orube could. To her, it was like a ghost, an evil spirit whispering evil things into the Alchemist's ear. "Stop this madness!"

The Alchemist couldn't perceive the creature, so all she witnessed was the blast of energy from Orube, and she responded in kind. The entity perceived the threat and didn't understand why the Alchemist was being so kind. Orube wasn't the Alchemist's friend, and there was no need for disabling blasts of energy. Kill the alien and be done with it.

Orube just barely dodged the projectiles being fired at her. It was difficult to know if she was dancing through the funhouse or through the universe as the Seventh Heart envisioned it. "Will, can't you see it?"

"All I see is an attacker with a sword." The Alchemist could only perceive the creature as a representation of her own feelings and emotions, which were growing darker by the minute.

Orube's feet were stuck to the floor. Indeed it seemed her feet were part of the floor and her legs were solidifying inch by inch. "Will, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm only here to stop you from making a terrible mistake. Can't you see? You're becoming like Nerissa." Still, the stiffening in her limbs continued. If Orube couldn't stop this quickly, she would be a statue, and quite dead. "I'll prove it." She threw down her sword and grasped her hands behind her back. "I am completely defenseless now. I just want to help you." The Alchemist didn't move, but the stiffening in Orube's legs came to a stop. She also noted that her hands had solidified. She couldn't take them out from behind her back.

The Alchemist said, "You don't understand. I can put an end to hunger, to war, and torture. I can make this a world worth living in." Still, the monster persisted. Don't negotiate with the alien; kill it. It's a distraction. The Alchemist simply thought that was a darker side of her emotions and she chose not to give in.

Orube noted what had just passed. The being had a great deal of control over the Alchemist, but it wasn't absolute. It was also clear that this creature had been there for some time, feeding on the Alchemist's darker feelings. "Will, don't you see it? It's there, right next to you. Will, this isn't you. The Will I know is full of honor and love and courage. The Will I know would never walk down this road. The Will I know would never forget her friends."

Susan said, "Will, I always thought I could change the world for you, but now I know how wrong I was. I have to change for the world."

The Alchemist said, "Who wants a world full of horrible things?" She reached up to pull another thread, and the mirror in front of her shattered and her universe began to destabilize. The thread became distorted and momentarily blinked out of sight. The Alchemist turned and faced the Guardians.

Will said, "The world may be full of horrible things, but it's full of good things too."

The Alchemist smiled. "So now you're here to fight me? You're going to save this universe from me?"

Cornelia said, "We're not here to fight you. We're here to help you. You're about to do something you can't undo and we can't let that happen."

"Oh, so you're trying to save me."

"We are going to save you. We are not going to try."

The Alchemist nodded and said, "Wow, that's an awfully aggressive way of putting it. That doesn't seem a bit self-righteous to you?"

Irma shook her head. "You're the last one that should be preaching about being self-righteous."

The universe re-solidified and the Alchemist reached to pull another thread. Will shattered another mirror, and all of the Guardians began to shatter mirrors. With a flip of her wrist, the Alchemist sent Cornelia flying into Hay Lin. They both landed in quicksand that turned into concrete.

"How did you do that?" asked Cornelia.

"With the power of the Keeper," said the Alchemist. "I finally understand how it works. The fifth element isn't its own element; it's what's created when all four are combined. Dirt and rocks don't make trees, but dirt combined with water for food, fire creating light, and air delivering it can make a forest. The fifth element is the substance inside the other elements. Knowing that, I can make anything with any of the elements. I can even make quicksand into concrete and turn Orube's limbs into stone. Combined with the Seventh Heart, I can literally create anything. This is the true Philosopher's Stone."

"Nice," said Cornelia, though her tone didn't sound as if she thought it was very nice. "Here's what I can do with concrete." It shattered around her and she and Hay Lin were free."

Taranee and Hay Lin combined their power to make a tornado of fire. The flaming twister sped to the Alchemist, who with a wave of her hand sent it back to the Guardians. Will decided that two could play at this game and instilled life in the tornado. It elongated and took on the shape of a massive reptile. A giant flaming dragon attacked the Alchemist. The Alchemist conjured a shield and her wand turned into a sword powered by the Seventh Heart. Of course, the fire dragon breathed fire, which the Alchemist shielded herself from.

One would think a fire dragon wouldn't be hurt by a sword, but this was sword made from and powered by the Seventh Heart. When the Alchemist stabbed the dragon in the neck with it, it screamed in agony and bled molten lava. The dragon swiped at the Alchemist and she rolled out of the way, and came back up swinging cutting the paw off of the dragon. It dissipated into nothing as the fire dispersed. The dragon breathed fire again and the Alchemist rolled under it, stabbing upward. The fire went out and the dragon was gone.

Coming back up, she saw all of the Guardians advancing on her. "Enough," she said and swung the sword in a wide arc. The Guardians fell backwards and couldn't get up. Some invisible force was pinning their legs.

There were only a few mirrors left, but they would be enough. As she reestablished her representation of the universe the threads reappeared. She reached up and pulled another thread. This was coming along nicely and soon, the universe would perfectly malleable and easy to bend to her will. Still, it nagged her, that question. Why not pull another? Why wait? Then there was a sound that the Alchemist didn't expect to hear. It was a guitar. It was accompanied by a steady drum rhythm. Then the bass joined followed by a keyboard harmony. Then there was Matt's voice.

"Ever since I got on this train, I've rode it down the line.

I always promised you that I'd be there every single time.

Now the world's turned on its side and we're stuck upon the rail.

I'd still follow you anywhere all through your sad, sad tale.

"You can let go, you can run away, and leave the world behind,

Close the curtain and hide the sun but turn around and you just might find,

"I'll always be by your side,

Wherever you go, whatever you do,

I'll be right there next to you.

I'll always be by your side,

Whatever you want, whatever you say,

I'll never ever turn you away."

The Alchemist closed her eyes. Had everyone turned out to put a stop to her plans? That dark part of her emotions said that it didn't matter; just keep pulling threads. The Alchemist lifted her hand to do just that, but a pair of hands grabbed onto her wrist. It was her mother. "Will, you have to stop this now. I'm not ordering you, Will. I'm begging. I'm pleading."

Cornelia said, "Will, please just listen to her. We only want to help you."

Hay Lin said, "Will, please, we love you."

When Susan drew the Alchemist into a hug, she didn't stop it. Something inside of her broke and it was like a floodgate opening. The tears fell freely and she couldn't stop them. All of the pain and the suffering that she had felt came out in force. All of the agony returned in spades.

"Ever since you gave me your heart, I've carried it everywhere.

This love's burden you shared with me, to me it's light as air.

Now you think you're all alone, and your heart's been split in two.

I've got to tell you, you're not alone; I'd do anything for you.

"You can cry out, you can scream and rage, and leave the world behind,

Close the curtain and hide the sun but turn around and you just might find,

"I'll always be by your side,

Wherever you go, whatever you do,

I'll be right there next to you.

I'll always be by your side,

Whatever you want, whatever you say,

I'll never ever turn you away."

The Guardians were free, and Orube found that her legs and arms were blessedly flesh and blood once more. All of the Guardians gathered around the Alchemist, each determined to show her that she wasn't alone. Still, Susan held the Alchemist tightly. For her part, the Alchemist's grief was now coming out in full force. She couldn't speak coherently and she tried to pour all of her sorrow, her pain, her complaints, and her longings into the embrace she shared with her mother now. Two other bodies pressed against her and she could feel Orube and the rest of the Guardians pressing into the group. Matt's song still played.

Watching through the Waters of Time, the Oracle said, "You see, Endarno, the crisis has passed and the damage was minor. Once again, the Guardians demonstrate that we must have patience and faith."

Endarno nodded. "But still, the Alchemist's foolishness has awakened one of the Profane Ones, creatures that were destroyed before even Kandrakar existed."

Yan Lin said, "Then we must continue to have faith."

The Alchemist held her mother tightly. Will whispered into her ear, "You belong with us. You don't belong here. You belong with us. You belong with your family." Then Will saw something that chilled her to the bone.

There was an image in one of the mirrors of the most horrible creature Will had ever seen. It had a head like a goat, with no hair, its skin blood red, its eyes glowing bright red. The mirror shattered and the creature stepped into the room. Susan screamed and tried to find a corner where she wouldn't be noticed. The Guardians, Orube, and the Alchemist all stood to face this creature, whatever it was. It stood taller even than Cedric at his largest. In addition to its goat head, it had the body of a man, covered with black fur, and from its back protruded giant black wings. It had the legs of a bull. The love that Susan and the Guardians had given to the Alchemist had cast out her black feelings, the very thing that this creature had held to her with. It longed for another food source even though it had siphoned tremendous power from the Alchemist.

"Little Guardians," it said, its voice gravelly and deep, "you have deprived me of my fun."

Irma said, "Wow, you really got way up in that ugly tree before you fell, didn't you?"

The creature laughed. "Amusing girl, when I have devoured the others and conquered this puny world, I may keep you as my court jester."

"Bring Cornelia, too. We do a double act."

Will stepped forward. "Who are you?"

"I am Belial. I ruled the humans of this world before they even knew fire. I was the first devil."

Will looked around to the other Guardians. The creature didn't seem to be attacking, and she didn't want to just pick a fight. Taranee said, "Will, this creature is as evil as they come. There's no shame in hitting this one below the belt."

Will sent a desperate telepathic plea for Matt to get himself, Peter, Nigel, and Joel as far from the carnival as he could. She tried sending images of Belial to him and she hoped that was enough to get the message across. The Guardians charged the creature at once, and it became immediately clear that he would not go down easily. He was like Frost times 100. He was fast and his body was as durable as stone. All of their attacks glanced off of him, barely stinging him, but they did sting him. That was the first thing Will needed to know. Belial could take inordinate levels of punishment, but he couldn't take it forever.

Belial extended one of his wings clipping Irma and Hay Lin with such force that they were thrown through a wall into the house the Alchemist had created. Cornelia chose to be creative, making a stone avatar to fight Belial in her stead. It was sculpted to look like Cornelia and stood twice as tall, and it attacked Belial with absolute abandon. Belial broke pieces off of the avatar only to see them grow back. He howled in frustration and breathed fire onto the avatar, to no avail.

Orube had retrieved her sword and she and the Alchemist were both swinging their swords at the creature hoping to pierce its hide. The Alchemist was pouring all of the energy she could through the Seventh Heart, but as she did, Belial seemed only to get stronger. She put the Heart away and tried to attack with just her own power, which was nevertheless amplified by the Seventh Heart. Belial turned toward Orube, clearly hoping to smash the pest with the sharp sword and the bursts of disintegrating energy, but she was too fast.

Belial seemed to be covered in a snowstorm and he quickly froze over. Irma and Hay Lin stepped out, well aware that the ice wouldn't hold him for long, and they were right. They were barely out of the path of his swing as the ice shattered and he lunged for them. Taranee lit herself on fire, literally a walking fire fairy and launched herself at Belial. Wherever she touched him, he blistered up and developed serious burns.

Taranee said, "He's weak against fire!"

Belial spread his wings and buffeted the girls. Mirror after mirror shattered and the full size of the interior of the building could be divined. This had been designed to be multipurpose. Now it was getting totally demolished. The Alchemist's sword was doing nothing and she couldn't understand it. Whatever energy she threw at Belial either absorbed into him or bounced off. She was thrown backwards with everyone as the wings continued to buffet them. The Alchemist was the first to her feet.

Belial said, "You can still finish what you started. You possess the Seventh Heart. Bring the universe to nothing and we can build paradise from the ruins."

The Alchemist had an epiphany. All of the pain, all of the sorrow, all of the misery that had come after her torture; this monster had been fueling it. Belial had found the Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar, one of the most powerful beings in the universe and fed upon her sorrow, reaping the benefit of her power along with it. She was still feeding it her power, but did it come from the Heart or her? She couldn't disperse it. That would free Phobos. She did the only she could.

"Orube, take the sword." The Alchemist thrust the hilt at Orube.

Orube looked down at the sword and said, "That contains the Seventh Heart. I wouldn't dare."

The Alchemist said, "Belial is feeding on me! This is the source of his power. If you take it, he'll be cut off. If I disperse it, Phobos will be released and who knows what will happen. Just take it. I have power of my own."

Orube reluctantly took the sword and as the Alchemist expected, the Star of Cassidy extricated itself from the formation and returned to her. Belial hadn't been paying attention to them, but when the Seventh Heart broke and Orube was given command of the six pieces, Belial's energy source was cut off from him. The Alchemist took Orube's katana in trade and jumped onto Belial's back. She drove the sword down between Belial's shoulder blades and he screamed in pain. Arching his back, the Alchemist was thrown from him, tossing her through one of the mirrors. The Alchemist stood to return to the attack, but immediately stumbled. Looking down, she saw a large shard of glass protruding from the back of her knee. She was down for the count.

Susan dragged her to safety and once they were hidden, she pulled the shard from her knee, and used her belt as a tourniquet. "Don't worry," said the Alchemist, "I'm sure Cornelia will fix it up."

The katana was still embedded in Belial's back. The monster couldn't pull it out. Will remembered what Kadma had said about devils being failed gods. When the Seventh Heart separated from the Star of Cassidy, Belial's power broke. He was still horribly strong, but the Guardian's attacks were now connecting.

"It was you!" Will shouted. "You're the monk that enslaved the other six and used their power to reshape the universe!"

"Astute, little girl." Belial, still unable to dislodge the sword, flung the last remaining mirror at Cornelia's avatar, a useless gesture.

"You never gave up. The second you saw your chance you used a Keeper of the Heart in her most vulnerable moment to reclaim your power."

Belial said, "And it would have worked, too if you hadn't divided your essence. When you created the Alchemist, I was cut off from my power again."

That stopped Will. "When I created the Alchemist?"

"Of course, why do you think you possessed the Heart of Kandrakar while she merely possessed the Star of Cassidy? You intended to spare her the agony of torture, but I couldn't use you. You were too damned virtuous. So I used the power I had established over you to trade your efforts. You lost your memory while she gained everything, including the anger I needed to feed on her with. She had the bitterness I needed. Most importantly, the one who remained in Phobos' cell was the only one I could use, because the one outside would possess the Heart of Kandrakar and would escape not just Phobos, but me. You were determined of that. That meant that the real Will had to be outside. If I had left you with the bitterness, I would have been bound to you, a woman who would go back to her family and would have no use for me. You slowed me down little girl, and now I've lost again."

Taranee said, "Then why are you still fighting?"

"Because, as long as I have the power to shred as many of you as I can before I'm forced back into the Void, I'm going to use it!"

Belial used telepathy to pick up every shard glass and hurl it at Taranee. If those shards connected, Taranee would literally be ground to nothing. Will, panicked and shot energy into Taranee, using Taranee's life essence to temporarily turn her into her element. The glass went through Taranee harmlessly. She wasn't engulfed in flames; she was flames, and then she was human again.

Taranee ran her hands along herself, wondering how she could have survived that attack. "What just happened?"

Belial, too, froze, just as surprised as Taranee.

Will said, "What the Alchemist said about the fifth element being the essence of the other four; I thought it might be possible to draw your body completely into your element."

Belial breathed fire at Will, but it looked as if a fire hose had been directed into his mouth, water filling his cheeks to capacity and more water spraying from his nostrils. He extended his wings again, but this time, he got dragged backward as Hay Lin sent gale force wind in his direction. Cornelia's avatar tackled him and held him in a full nelson. Taranee pummeled him with fireballs. Orube jumped on his back and used the Alchemist's sword upon Belial's horns. In that moment, it seemed a tear in time opened, and Belial disintegrated and his remains were drawn into the rift.

The battle had ended, and the Guardians were exhausted. Cornelia's avatar melted into mud. Orube recovered her Katana from the ground where Belial had fallen. Will turned them all back into normal girls. Susan came out, helping the Alchemist, who was limping beside her.

Will looked squarely at the Alchemist and said, "Whatever Belial said, one of us was still tortured and made the decision to the send the Heart of Kandrakar back to Earth with an altamere. There is no way to know which of us it is, and a creature as evil as Belial couldn't be capable of telling the truth.

The Alchemist said, "I know what I did, and I know what I saw, and I know what I created. That's good enough for me."

Will looked around and then looked to Susan. "Mom, how are we going to explain my twin sister?"

The Oracle's voice said, "I suspect you will have an easy enough time of it."

They had found themselves in Kandrakar.

(Yes, for those comic collectors old enough to remember the early 90's that opening line about time being up was an X-Men reference.)

Author's note: Darkensis has informed me of the error of my ways with regards to the bullet injury in chapter 3. So noted, so corrected. The easiest way was just to get rid of the exposition fairy.


	11. Choices

Eight women stood in the Fortress of Light, before the Council of Kandrakar. One of them, under ordinary circumstances, shouldn't belong there, but a special exception had been made. Once again, the Guardians had acquitted themselves beyond the Council's highest expectations. Whatever anyone said of these young girls, they were the most accomplished and successful group of Guardians that had ever served Kandrakar. Even the mightiest of Guardians before them would have faltered had they faced challenges the likes which these girls had encountered. The girls looked up to see the Oracle, Endarno, and Yan Lin all beaming at them.

The Oracle said, "Guardians, the darkest hour in your history was the darkest hour in all of Kandrakar. Never had we faced such danger. It concerns me that I am saying that so often, but we cannot dwell upon that. The future must bring what it will and we must face it as our wisdom instructs us. You have all made me more proud than you can imagine. You deduced correctly that Belial, after Xin Jing's sacrifice was the first to possess the Heart of Kandrakar."

Will said, "He was also controlling the Alchemist."

The Alchemist said, "No, he wasn't controlling me."

"Come on, you heard what he said."

The Oracle said, "The Alchemist is correct. Belial was not controlling her. He was influencing her. There is a difference. He may have been manipulating her, guiding her, instructing her, but in the end, she could always have chosen to ignore him. Belial, upon regaining full strength would likely have destroyed her. He very nearly did. Will, you are correct in the belief that Belial was lying to you. There is truly no way he could know which of you is which, could not have manipulated you so, and likely, he merely said what he did in a final effort to break the Alchemist's spirit. He knew he was losing, so he lashed out at the one he could hurt the most.

"Congratulations are in order. You stopped the Seventh Heart from destroying the universe. You saved the Alchemist from herself and from Belial. You stopped Belial from returning to power. Even Phobos will now return to where he belongs. Orube, bring me the sword."

Orube did as she was instructed. When she returned to her position, the Oracle pointed the sword at the speaking area, and Phobos appeared before the Guardians. He looked around, frightened and uncertain, but his arrogance was no less diminished, and when he composed himself, he looked at the Guardians, and the Council with nothing but contempt. The Guardians gave him stony expressions. Susan and the Alchemist had different reactions. The Alchemist recalled the months of torment and at first, she felt fear but anger quickly took its place, a rage she didn't realize she was capable of. She dug her fingernails into her mother's arm, drawing blood.

Ordinarily, Susan might have said something, but she didn't notice the pressure from the Alchemist's closed fist. She was too focused on Phobos. For the first time, she was meeting the man who had caused her daughter so much suffering, and it was taking all of her restraint to keep from clawing his eyes out. The look on her face said as much.

The Oracle said, "I see that there is no love lost between any of you and Phobos. I can hardly blame you. I certainly will not be underestimating him again. He will return to the Tower of Mist and the keeper of the tower shall never enter his cell. He may only look to ensure Phobos is still there." Phobos was led off by the Heralds of Kandrakar. "Whoever the players in this drama may have been, Phobos was undoubtedly the cause of these events." He waved his hand, and the crystal in the sword pommel became six gems. The Oracle held up a bright red one. "Orube, I charge you to return to Basiliade and return this to its rightful place. I trust you know where that is."

Orube bowed and said, "I will take it directly to the Temple of the Crimson Dawn." She accepted the Heart of Basiliade and then turned to the Guardians. "This is goodbye once again. When I am finished with my mission, I will resume my duties here as the Guardian of your aurameres."

Will stepped forward to shake her hand, then changed her mind and hugged Orube. Orube smiled and returned Will's embrace.

Irma shouted, "Group hug!" and all five Guardians were practically crushing Orube.

When they released her, Orube approached Susan and the Alchemist. Orube bowed respectfully before Susan. "Have no fear," said Orube, "you've raised an amazing daughter." Then, she pulled the Alchemist into a hug. After that, she was gone.

The Oracle said, "The Shadow Heart shall return to the Heart of Kandrakar from whence it came." The Shadow Heart approached Will and bonded with the Heart of Kandrakar. "The Light of Meridian shall be returned to Queen Elyon." The Crown of Light formed from one of the crystals and was also put in Will's possession. "The Heralds shall deal with the Hearts of Zambala, Eridea, and Ulnra. Now, to the matter of Will and the Alchemist. Many choices stretch before you."

The Alchemist said, "I had no doubt you would make me go to the Tower of Mist."

"And why would I do that?" When no answer was forthcoming, the Oracle said, "The purpose of the Tower of Mist is not to punish. It is there to contain evil. The people who are there are only there because if they were not, they would be spreading evil. The decisions you have made were decisions that would have had evil results, yet in the end, you made the conscious decision to turn away from that path and correct your mistakes. Again, nobody made that choice for you. Now you come here, prepared to face the consequences of your actions. The Tower of Mists forces people to confront their own evil. I fear that it would not hold you, as you are not evil." The Oracle smiled wryly.

The Alchemist looked down, somewhat bemused, "Then…"

"You have many paths before you, but I suspect that you have already chosen one. You have already correctly deduced that the Star of Cassidy can never be taken from you. You are no longer the Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar, but you still have the power to do great good, and have an excellent plan to put it to use. You are a good person, and the next time someone like Belial fuels your doubts, I suggest you listen to the people who care about you."

The Oracle turned his gaze back to the Guardians. "Will, what was your opinion of Belial?"

Will said, "Sir, he was the most horrible thing I ever met. He thrived on the pain and misery of others. The worst of people made him stronger."

"And when you fought him?"

"Sir, he was so strong, I was kind of surprised he went down so easy."

Irma said, "You call that easy? I've got aches in places I didn't know existed."

Hay Lin said, "Cornelia was the smart one. She held back and let her powers do the work."

Taranee said, "I would have been hamburger if Will hadn't…I'm still not sure what she did."

Yan Lin said, "Will has discovered the elemental secret of her powers. Will, you must refrain using your power in that manner. It can be extremely destructive and dangerous. Taranee could have ceased to exist. If you find yourself in the position of having to use that ability again, be extremely cautious."

The Oracle said, "It is extremely rare for a Guardian to discover the full depths of her power. Understand that the powers you possess are abilities that the occultists of your world spend their lives studying and hoping to discover. You have no such education, and Guardian's rarely do. To be fair, the Alchemist learned this science from one such man of learning. Enough of that subject though. We were speaking of Belial."

Will nodded and said, "We didn't defeat him, did we?"

"Unfortunately, you did not. I fear that Belial has been attempting this for some time. He belongs to a race of beings that we call the Profane Ones. They were the first beings to discover magic and they used it for their own selfish ends. Belial was the mightiest of them and he sought the destruction of everything. He was born on Earth but he was defeated in the Infinite Void. His entire race, whose evil was such that they were beyond redemption were cast in with him. It was when Phobos accomplished the impossible and escaped the Infinite Void that Belial was awakened. I fear that he has no intention of returning to his slumber.

"The only reason you defeated him so quickly was because he hadn't finished his regeneration when the Alchemist cut him off from the Seventh Heart. His existence in your dimension was tenuous at best, but he is awakened now, and he has regained some of his power. He is the oldest being in the universe and he possesses the virtue of patience. It may be that because of your actions, he will not be a threat to the Infinite Realms in a long time, but make no mistake; he is awake now, regaining his power, and biding his time. If you have any question of his character, know that his name means 'Worthless One'."

The Guardians, the Alchemist, and Susan were returned to Mrs. Rudolph's house to find Elyon, Dean, and Matt waiting, each of them nervous and concerned. Susan hugged Dean. Matt, upon seeing both Will and Alchemist, inhaled sharply, unsure of what he should do. Together, they all set to the arduous task of restoring a semblance of normalcy. Will gave Elyon the Crown of Light.

Relieved, Elyon placed the circlet upon her head and said, "I should be going home then, now that I have my power restored. I suspect there is a great deal of damage control to be done."

Susan said, "Umm…could you stay for dinner?"

Elyon recalled the fried chicken and said, "Okay, but I can't stay longer."

Matt sat between Will and the Alchemist when the roast beef dinner was served. Nobody talked about what happened. Susan was still hoping it had all been a horrible dream, and nobody thought that Dean or Matt needed to know the details. Of course, the question of Will and the Alchemist came up eventually.

Cornelia said, "Okay, I have an idea. We can say that she was living with her father and came to stay in Heatherfield with her sister. After all, they're twins right?"

Irma said, "What about her name? We can't call her the Alchemist. How would that look on school records?"

The Alchemist said, "Guys, none of that is going to be a problem. I'm not staying."

Silence fell across the table. Then Hay Lin said, "What? You can't leave. This is your home."

"That's right. Home is where one of us goes back to the way things always were before while the other one has to assume a completely new identity, make a completely new life, and figure out her place in the world from scratch."

"But, Will," said Taranee, "it's not from scratch. We're still your friends. That hasn't changed."

"And I hope it never will. It might not be obvious but you guys saved my soul. I'll never stop loving you guys, but there is somewhere else I need to be now. There is something else for me to do. I've made my choice. I'm going to Meridian. I'm going to keep being the Alchemist. I am going to keep protecting people who can't protect themselves. There's just the thing," the Alchemist looked down, unsure how to say it, "I was hoping that, we…you know…would stay in touch."

Cornelia, who was to the immediate left of the Alchemist, grasped her around the shoulders. "You don't have to worry about that. I'm not letting you forget who your friends are."

Dinner had been over for an hour. Elyon had already left, though reluctant to leave the Alchemist behind after that statement. The Alchemist had assured her that there was more she had to do but she would be in Meridian soon. After all, Caleb was waiting for his queen. Now, she sat upon the roof of Mrs. Rudolph's house, looking out into a landscape that she had no intention of ever being a part of again. She would miss it, but there were more important things to do, more important places to be.

"You're sure about this?" came Matt's voice. How did he know she was out here?

"Matt, I am a cosmic fifth wheel, and you remember that man I told you about; Vargas? I'm going to be his apprentice. I'm going to learn from him. He told me that if I should ever come to my senses, he would be happy to teach me."

Matt smiled at the idea of Will being a real sorceress. "Never the quiet life for you."

"Belial is still out there. I know the Oracle said he may be down for a long time, but I'm not going to take a chance. Phobos nearly destroyed my body, but Belial nearly destroyed my humanity. I can't forgive that."

Matt put a hand up to her cheek and the Alchemist leaned into his touch, longing for so much more. She wanted to be held, to be taken to a quiet world with Matt where she would never have to worry again. She opened her eyes and looked into Matt's. "Your song woke me up, Matt. Mom, and the girls, they were there, reminding me of what I was leaving behind. I couldn't say no to Mom, but Matt, your song woke me up."

"Will, you can stay, you know."

"And what about her? She loves you as much as I do. No, it's better this way. There'd be too much confusion any other way. What does she do if you choose me? What do I do if you choose her? How do you feel about that? There was one Will when this started and that's the way it has to stay. Nothing else is fair to any of us."

"Don't you deserve love?"

"I'm sure I do, but something tells me I won't have time for it. I'm choosing the scholar's life, remember?"

Later that day…

Alvarez sat in his office throwing a foam basketball into a Fisher-Price hoop stuck to the wall. He had Will's file on his computer screen, the enigma troubling him. Had he dreamed all of that? He didn't think so. He never remembered a dream that clearly. Then was the question of magic. Had anything he seen been real? Will had come to him at the end and told him to wait in his office, that she had a gift for him and that it would soon arrive. If it had all been a dream, why was here, waiting patiently?

He was thinking of closing the investigation completely. No matter how deep he investigated, the questions kept being strange and the answers kept being stranger. To make matters worse, he was coming across references to Kandrakar in Interpol files and on the internet. He had searched all of the words he had heard the girls use and came up with incredible information, including a Chinese legend about four dragons and a nymph named Xin Jing. On a hunch, he had searched for the Guardians but came up with nothing except a few security companies, a document file share website, an anti-virus offer, and a website for guitar amplifiers.

Any of his searches for the five elements gave him alchemy, Wicca, and Golden Dawn websites up the nose. He had learned everything about magic from how to attract love to how to cure earwax. He didn't learn what he wanted to know and then he remembered something else the girls had said about portals and the veil. "Veil" brought up more New Age crap, but "portal" was interesting. True, he had to sift through useless information, such as a card game called Magic: the Gathering, and a video game on PS3 and Xbox, but he finally got hits on Meridian, and many of the other things he had heard, including "Phobos", "Frost", and "Elyon". It was true that these website blog posts were written by people who claimed to have stumbled upon these things by accidents, and whose credibility was suspect, but Alvarez believed them. After all he had been through, he had to believe them.

So, it was all real. All of this information bounced through his head as he threw the basketball into its hoop over and over. So what would he do with this information? It was true that nobody would believe it, but would he tell any of the crackpots that would believe him? Wouldn't that make him a crackpot? Yes, they'd assume he was a crackpot with a crack pipe.

There was a knock at the office door. "Come in."

A young girl came in, probably sixteen or seventeen. She was small, with long black hair down her back. She had olive skin and dark eyes. She was Hispanic and dressed like a typical teenager with blue jeans and a Hello Kitty tee-shirt. She also looked very familiar, like his wife used to look when they she had been a kid.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

"I'm sorry, I was just…I'm looking for Jorge Alvarez."

"You've found him."

The girl's eyes widened and she said, "Umm, I don't know how to start."

"Usually, at the beginning. Trust me, it works every time."

"Okay, here goes; I'm adopted…I mean…not exactly. I don't remember very well. I had had a concussion when I was six so I remember a little, but everything is all…jumbly. My mom, I mean, not my real mom, she told me I fell…and…"

Alvarez put his hands out and said, "Look, why don't you sit down, calm down, and just think about what you're trying to say."

She looked down at the folder she had in her hand. "Well, she gave me a different name and I don't really remember my old name. She said my parents gave me up, but I never believed it. Then this girl calls me and tells me what my real name is, and I find out that I'm a missing person. Anyway, I'm your daughter."

Alvarez's eyes widened. She certainly looked like she could be. She was the right age, she looked like his wife. She looked just like her mother. "My daughter is presumed dead."

"I know, but they had this picture of her," she opened her folder and pulled a sheet of paper, "and it looks just like the pictures of me as a kid." She handed it to Alvarez, who was now standing.

He read parts of the article aloud. "Rosa Alvarez…" "…Missing on Tuesday, October 17, 2002…" "…Subject is six-years-old…" "…police have no leads…" He handed the sheet back to her. "You know, after you disappeared, I became a cop and I always thought I'd find you."

There was a moment in which they simply looked at one another, uncertain of what should happen next. A gift; that's what this was, a gift, and Alvarez was happy to accept. "I'm Rosa," she said, tears streaming down her face and her voice uneven. They both moved at the same time and hugged each other. All of Alvarez's previous worries had been driven from his mind, but one thing remained: Will Vandom. He could never forget what she had done for him.

At Golden…

This place had many fond, and many not so fond memories for the Guardians. Dates had been made and hearts had been broken in here. They couldn't count all of the cheap, oversized hamburgers consumed, or the stale fries that Irma had hogged. They couldn't forget the time that their astral drops had left them with an enormous tab and didn't tell them.

Irma said, "So what do you think; a full spread cover of the Guardians on Time?"

"On time for what?" asked Cornelia, a sardonic smile on her face.

"For when the world finally knows our secret!"

"And why would that happen?" asked Will.

"Because…it is bound to happen sooner or later and you know it!"

Will shook her head. "We've managed to keep it pretty well until now. One boyfriend and one family know the truth. That's a pretty good record after five years."

"Don't forget one Jorge Alvarez," said Irma.

"I'm not, but I'm still sure we can keep our secret."

"You are in denial. We are having close calls on a daily basis. We were talking about it while you and Cornelia took your mom and soon to be step-father on a tour of Meridian with Orube. Hay Lin and Taranee said I had some very good points."

Taranee said, "That doesn't mean we agree with them."

Hay Lin worked diligently on a chocolate sundae as she said, "We either get discovered or we don't. I say we keep the secret and let everyone else work to find it out."

Irma looked from Taranee to Hay Lin. "Oh, come on. Taranee may have been completely unwilling to commit, but Hay Lin, you totally had my back."

Hay Lin said, "No, I just expressed the opinion that your argument had some merit and was worth some thought. Well, I thought about it, and I think that you're right when you say that sooner or later, the world's going to find out. It's so hard to hide from the internet, but I think you're wrong when you say we should come out of the broom closet. If the people of Earth really want to know about us, let them find out the hard way."

Irma pursed her lips and looked at Taranee, "What about you? Have you thought about it?"

Taranee said, "I think I really don't want my picture on Newsweek."

Cornelia said, "Maybe Vogue or Vanity Fair."

Hay Lin said, "Maybe my own Chinese cook book! Chef Hay Lin Presents!"

Irma said, "Is anybody going to hear me out?"

Will said, "We heard you, Irma. I just think that telling the world our secret is going too far. For one thing, we don't need to. Hay Lin's right; if the world finds out then good for the world. I for one, would rather go about business as usual."

Cornelia said, "And I believe that first on the agenda is Mr. Horsberg's big math test tomorrow."

Irma said, "Wait a minute! Which would you rather have: one of Mr. Horsberg's tests from the pits of evil, or an interview on 60 minutes about W. I. T. C. H.?"

Cornelia said, "Oh, please. Nobody watches TV anymore. Why bother when you can watch everything online?"

"Oh, so you'd rather have an article on Yahoo! News?"

Will said, "What, and take a risk on being interviewed by Chris Chase?"

Hay Lin said, "A man with bad Karma if there ever was one. I think he'd make a good clown, though."

Cornelia said, "He is a clown."

Will said, "Come on, the math test tomorrow. I don't know about any of you, but I think I'm going to spend the rest of the night cramming."

Taranee said, "Will, given all the time you've been gone, he might let you out of it."

"You mean Mr. 'Nobody Escapes My Tests' Horsberg?"

"I'll help you tonight."

Irma said, "Come on, guys. I had this whole public relations thing planned out."

Will said, "Well, if the world should find out, you'll be ready, won't you?"

Irma sighed and returned to her shake. "I guess you're right. Still, a spread in Time would be nice."

On Metamoor…

Vargas' home village had been destroyed by Phobos and he had been forced to find a new home. Meridian had enough room for him on the outskirts. The city was vast, easy to get lost in, and easy to avoid people, which Vargas liked. Back when he had his magic, he had visited many cities on many worlds. Still, no matter what he witnessed, he always came home. He was born here and he would die here.

He may not have had his magic, but he could still do his magical workings. He had a furnace and a lab and he was sure his potions would come out much the same as they always had. The quest for knowledge never ended. Vargas may have lost his magic, but he had all of his talent. His greatest talent was knowing people. He could read their very souls. Of course, he could be wrong about a person, but he never was.

It was because of this that he wasn't surprised when the white and red robed girl appeared on his doorstep. Her physical wounds had healed, but the mental wounds she would probably bear for the rest of her life. Still, she didn't present herself as a wounded woman. She was a woman who was healing.

"Honored Guardian," he said.

"No, just Will. I'm not a Guardian anymore."

Vargas smiled and said, "Your honor is no less for it. I see that you could not go through with your plan. I knew you wouldn't. You're too good."

"I almost did."

"Of that I have no doubt." Vargas turned aside and invited her in. "Now, where were we in our lessons?"

The Alchemist stepped inside to learn the secrets of her namesake and to find her new life. Vargas would be only too happy to guide her on her journey. Still, at the back of his mind there was a doubt. If only Vargas knew how dangerous doubt could be, and the evil it could invite. Doubt could bring the mightiest to their knees. After all, it defeated the Alchemist.

However, just as doubt can save a soul, it can bring with it uncertainty and discord; appetizers at the feast of Belial.

(And here we are at the finish. For some reason, whenever I read the fight between the Guardians and Belial, I start hearing the song, "Ballroom Blitz". Okay, moving right along. I have readers to thank and I do thank them from the bottom of my heart. They are AshleySwift13, purplewaterfalls567, SilverBullet, Hufflepuffxlulux, Nightmaster000, and Drakensis, thank you one and all. I have a couple of Doctor Who fics I'm neglecting, and a Harry Potter fic I'm taking my dear sweet time on. Then again, I really should do something productive, like finish the book I'm writing. Still, there's something about the fanfiction hobby I can't stay away from. As for my future writing W. I. T. C. H., the Alchemist isn't done with me. I can feel it. Thank you all again, support means everything to finishing a fic.)


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